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3(J^fj^f^C^3clW//(^C^ 



THE 



Holy Man of Santa Clara 



OR 



Life, Virtues, and Miracles 



OF 



FR. MAGIN CATALA, O. F. M. 

BY 

FR. ZEPHYRIN ENGELHARDT. O. F. M. 



Author of 

"The Franciscans in California," 

"The Franciscans in Arizona," 
"The Missions and Missionaries." 



"It was not what we read of the 
saints that made them saints; it was 
what we do not read of them 
that enabled them to be what we 
wonder at while we read." (Fr, F. W. 
Faber, "Growth in Holiness," p. 303.) 



SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 

THE JAMES H. BARRY COMPANY 

1909 



Nilyil ©faatat 



FR. THEOPHILUS RICHARDT, O. F. M., 

Sacr. Theol. Lector 

Censor deputalus 



Nilitl mstnt 



t^' 



FR. CONRADINUS WALLBRAUN, O. F. M., 

Sacr. Theol. Lector 

Censor deputatus 



Sm^trtttti pprmtttilttr 



FR. CYPRIANUS BANSCHEID, O. F. M., 

Minister Provincialis 



9m$trtittatitr 



^ PATRITITJS GULIELMUS RIORDAN, 

Archiepiscopus Sancti Francisci, Cal. 

Die 28 Junii, 1909 



CI. <i 24 63 3 4 
SEP 1 1909 



Copyright, 1909, 

By 

ZEPHYRIN ENGELHARDT. 



) 
o 



To 

Commissary Provincial 

of the 

Franciscans on the Pacific Coast 



PREFACE 

It is with much diffidence that the author 
offers this Httle volume to the reading public. 
There is vastly more in the life of a saint than 
appears on the surface. In order that it re- 
ceive just treatment it should be written by a 
saint. Gladly would the author have left the 
task to a worthier pen, but obedience decreed 
otherwise. He, therefore, decided to take 
purely historical ground, and herewith pre- 
sents the facts obtained through long and criti- 
cal research. He believes that this course will 
after all best serve the cause of Fr. Magin 
Catala. May the holy servant of God forgive 
what was written amiss. 

In compliance with the Decree of Pope Ur- 
ban VIII., the author hereby declares that he 
claims only human belief for the miracles, rev- 
elations, graces, and other incidents attributed 
to Fr. Magin Catala; that the terms holy, 
saintly, and similar expressions, as applied to 
the servant of God, are employed in a wider 
sense, and not in the sense bestowed upon the 
servants of God already canonized by the Holy 
Roman Church ; that he professes himself an 
obedient son of the same Holy Roman Church ; 
and that he reverently submits to her decision 
whatever he has written in this book. 

The Author. 



PART I. 
LIFE. 



CHAPTER I. 

California. — Discovery of Gold. — The Missions and 
Missionaries. — Fr. Magin Catala's Birth, Baptism, 
Parents. — Enters the Franciscan Order. 

EVER since the discovery of gold in Northern 
California, men of almost every nation 
under the sun flocked to the Pacific Coast. Some 
braved the hardships of the deserts and the 
cruelties of the savages by making their way 
through the country afoot, on horseback, or in 
wagons of every description ; others took passage 
on the Atlantic Coast to cross the continent at the 
Isthmus of Panama, or sailed around Cape Horn 
to reach the Golden Gate. All came animated 
with the one desire of improving their temporal 
fortunes. The country was new to them and to 
the world at large, yet it was not a new country. 
Others had preceded the fortune-hunters. It 
had been discovered three hundred years before 
the little town at the entrance of the famous bay 
changed its Spanish name Yerba Buena to that 
of the glorious Saint of Assisi. Carmelite friars, 
accompanying Sebastian Vizcaino, had celebrated 
the Holy Sacrifice on the shores of Monterey 
Bay in December, 1602. Eighty years before the 
region of the Sacramento began to surrender its 
metallic treasures, Franciscan friars, vowed to 
poverty and to contempt for that same metal, 
had commenced Christianizing the degraded na- 



12 



tives of the coast and were developing a system 
of civilization which has since forced the admira- 
tion of the shrewdest statesmen as well as the ap- 
probation of the most sentimental humanitarians, 
and has afforded an inexhaustible theme for the 
bard as well as the traveler. 

The period of eighty years immediately pre- 
ceding the arrival of the gold-diggers marks the 
golden age of the California natives. During 
this time, through the combined efforts of the 
voluntarily poor Catholic friars and the naturally 
poor Indians, twenty-one missionary establish- 
ments arose and dotted the coast region from San 
Diego to Sonoma. One hundred and forty-six 
Franciscan priests, without any worldly compen- 
sation whatsoever, there devoted themselves to 
the arduous task of raising the savages to the 
plane of Christian manhood and womanhood. 
Nearly one-half of this faithful band of apostolic 
laborers fell at their post among their dusky 
wards as victims of Catholic zeal for the salva- 
tion of immortal souls. 

Among those that volunteered for this life of 
hardship and self-denial in the missions of Cali- 
fornia Fr. Magin Catala stands conspicuous for 
zeal, sanctity, and an uncommonly long term of 
missionary activity in one place. This servant of 
God was born on the 29th or the 30th of Janu- 
ary, 1761, at Montblanch, in the province of 
Catalonia and the archdiocese of Tarragona, 







FACHADA OF THE CHURCH AT MONTBLANCH. 



13 



Spain. His parents, ]\Iatias Catala, a notary, and 
Francisca Catala y Guasch, were exemplary 
Christians. An uncle was a secular priest and 
beneficiary of the church at Montblanch. In 
baptism, which was administered on Saturday, 
January 31st, by the Rev. Jose Montaiiez y 
Murtra, parish priest of St. Mary Major at 
Montblanch, the child received the names Ma- 
gin,* Jose, Matias. The sponsors were Raimundo 
and Josefa Catala. On August 7th, 1767, when 
little more than six years of age, Magin received 
the Sacrament of Confirmation in the same par- 
ish church at the hands of the Most Rev. Juan 
Lario Lanzis, Archbishop of Tarragona. This is 
all we know of Fr. Magin's childhood. 

Matias and Francisca Catala must have trained 
their child in the path of virtue ; for, at the early 
age of sixteen years, Magin sought refuge from 
the allurements of the world in the Order of 
Friars Minor by taking the habit of St. Francis 
at the monastery of Barcelona on April 4th, 1777. 
One year later he pronounced the vows of obedi- 
ence, chastity, and poverty, without taking an- 
other name on that occasion as is customary in 
Spanish countries. When he had finished the 
usual classical and higher studies, the young 
cleric was elevated to the priesthood, probably 
in the year 1785. Neither the date nor the year 



*■ Vide Appendix A. 



14 



could be ascertained from the archives of the 
Spanish monastery, owing to the fact that the re- 
ligious houses in Spain have at different times 
been subjected to the rapacity of unscrupulous 
politicians, who under one pretext or another 
despoiled the convents of their archives and 
libraries as well as of everything else that ap- 
peared valuable. 



CHAPTER 11. 

Dearth of Missionaries. — Fr. Magin Goes to America. 
— Vandalism of the Liberal Politicians. — Chap- 
lain on the Nootka Ship. — Arrives at Monterey. 
— Reaches Santa Clara. 

AT the period when Fr. Magin became priest 
there was much need of apostolic laborers 
in the missions of the Friars Minor in America. 
After the unjust and cruel expulsion of the Jesuits 
from the Spanish dominions, the government had 
directed the Franciscans to take charge of the de- 
serted establishments. Though already employed 
to the limit of their numbers among the Indians 
of New Mexico, Florida, Texas, and many parts 
of Mexico, they accepted the trust with all its 
hardships, and sent their religious into Lower 
California, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Arizona. Later 
the missions of Upper California were founded. 
This increased the sore need of more missionaries. 
Frequent appeals were sent to the friars in Spain 
to come to the assistance of their brethren in 
America, and there were always found those that 
expressed willingness to sacrifice their beloved 
solitude for the privilege of toiling in the vine- 
yard of the Lord. Life in the Indian missions at 
its best was wearisome and full of trials. Gen- 
erally it taxed virtue as well as mind and body, 
and martyrdom could be expected even in Cali- 
fornia. Nevertheless a great many religious vol- 



16 



imteered. From among these the most suitable 
and most solidly virtuous were selected to join 
their brethren in the Western Hemisphere ; for, 
while no one, as St. Francis himself had com- 
manded, could be sent out who in the opinion of 
the superiors seemed unsuitable, no one was to 
be refused permission whose piety and fitness ap- 
peared evident. 

Among the friars whom zeal for immortal souls 
prompted to apply for the American missions in 
1786 were Fathers Jose de la Cruz Espi and 
Magin Catala, the latter but recently ordained. 
After receiving the blessing of the Fr. Guardian 
and the embrace of their brethren, both sailed 
from Cadiz in October, 1786. As soon as they 
reached the City of Mexico, probably at the close 
of the year, they were incorporated into the mis- 
sionary college or Franciscan seminary of San 
Fernando, which institution trained and sup- 
plied the apostolic men that spent their lives in 
the midst of the California natives. Whilst Fr. 
Jose Espi was at once sent as chaplain with a 
ship in the Pacific ocean, Fr. Magin Catala, it 
seems, was employed in the seminary or in 
preaching missions to the Mexicans. At all 
events, we read nothing about him until six years 
later, and the reason is the same that prevents us 
from obtaining particulars regarding the early 
youth of the servant of God. As in Portugal, 
Spain, Italy and France, so also in Mexico the 



17 



monasteries and convents, raised and furnished 
through the abstemiousness of their inmates, at 
different periods were looted or confiscated by 
the respective anti-Christian governments that 
succeeded one another. Some officials, not satis- 
fied with plundering the homes of peace, prayer, 
and charity, wantonly destroyed what they could 
not utilize. Thus in 1864 the rabid Juarez faction 
made bonfires of the archives of the famous San 
Fernando College, so that there are no records 
left to enlighten us with regard to the life of Fr. 
Magin in Mexico. 

Fortunately the Archives of Santa Barbara, 
California, contain a letter addressed by Fr. Fran- 
cisco Pangua, the guardian of San Fernando Col- 
lege, to Fr. Fermin Francisco de Lasuen, the su- 
perior of the California missions, which gives 
some information about Fr. Magin's coming to 
the Pacific Coast. It seems that the servant of 
God urged his superiors to permit him to labor 
for the conversion of the savages, that his peti- 
tion was at last granted, and that the Fr. Guard- 
ian only waited for an opportunity to transfer 
the zealous volunteer to California. The oppor- 
tunity arrived in 1793. 

At this period Spanish vessels plied between 
Mexico and the great Northwest Coast as far as 
Nootka Sound on the western shore of what is 
now Vancouver Island, in forty-nine and one-half 
degrees north. This bay had been discovered in 



18 



the forepart of August, 1774, by Captain Juan 
Perez, who had sailed from Monterey on June 
11th, accompanied by the Franciscans Fr. Juan 
Crespi and Fr. Tomas de la Pena. Spain, there- 
fore, claimed the territory by right of discovery, 
and Spanish ships frequently visited Nootka 
Sound until the king abandoned the region in 
1794. The Spanish government generally in- 
sisted that chaplains should accompany the sailors 
on these voyages. Religious Orders were un- 
willing to furnish priests for such expeditions, 
because this kind of employment was foreign to 
their objects and hazardous for the spiritual well- 
being of the individual religious. When secular 
priests, however, could not be secured, the gov- 
ernment called upon some religious community 
which then found it advisable to yield. Such a 
demand brought Fr. Magin to the Pacific Coast. 
In his communication Fr. Guardian Francisco 
Pangua under date of November 21st, 1792, 
notified Fr. Lasuen that two religious would 
soon set out for California, Fr. Jose de la 
Cruz Espi, a native of Valencia, who in years 
past had acted as chaplain on an expedition to 
Nootka, and Fr. Magin Catala. The Fr. Guard- 
ian made the additional remark that both were 
good and peaceful laborers. The two Fathers, 
it seems, arrived at Monterey in July, 1793. 
While Fr. Espi was at once assigned to Mission 
San Antonio, Fr. Magin, after an understanding 



19 



with the Fr. Presidente and in compliance with 
the directions of the Fr. Guardian, accompanied 
the crew of the frigate Aranzazii to Nootka 
Sound. The vessel was in charge of Cap- 
tain Juan Kendrick. Of the movements of the 
vessel we could discover nothing until June 
the following year. On the fifteenth of that 
month, 1794, Don Ramon A. Saavedra wrote 
from Nootka to Governor Jose Joaquin Arril- 
laga of California, that "the Rev. Fr. Magin 
Catala, who accompanies the frigate Aranzazu 
as chaplain, has orders to remain at one of the 
missions of California. Your Honor will there- 
fore please take the necessary steps that the 
crew of that vessel be not without spiritual care 
. and that, with the consent of the Fr. 
Presidente, one of the missionaries who are re- 
tiring to the motherhouse be appointed, or that 
Fr. Catala himself be bound to continue the voy- 
age as chaplain." 

When on July 2d, 1794, the Aranzazu reached 
Monterey, Fr. Magin declined to act as chaplain 
any longer, inasmuch as he had been destined for 
the missions among the Indians. It appears that 
the governor requested him to make another voy- 
age to Nootka. In reply the servant of God on 
July 12th, 1794, addressed the following letter to 
Arrillaga : 

"Dear Governor : In response to what you say 
in your letter of yesterday, I must inform you 



20 



that to my deep regret I am not able to comply 
with your request asking me to continue as chap- 
lain of the frigate Aranzazii on her voyage to 
Nootka, as the captain of that ship desires : for, 
apart from the hardships of the voyages to that 
port where I spent thirteen months in the midst 
of no small difficulties, I have in the present cir- 
cumstances the weighty reason that I must con- 
sider myself one of the missionaries of this New 
California, for which task I have been designated. 
In virtue of this appointment I can in no manner 
dispose of my person without previous orders 
from the Fr. Presidente of these missions, whose 
subject I am. 

''Notwithstanding all I have said just now, I 
am desirous, as far as I am concerned, of con- 
tributing to the relief of the necessity which Your 
Honor has explained to me. I have wished to 
show how much I am interested in the welfare 
of souls. When I therefore learned that the Rev. 
Fr. Presidente agreed to comply with the order 
of Don Ramon Saavedra, commander of the es- 
tablishment at Nootka, to the extent that the Rev. 
Chaplain of the frigate Concepcion should go on 
board the Aranzazu, and that his place should be 
filled by one of the missionaries about to retire to 
Mexico, I have taken it upon myself to urge the 
Rev. Fr. Bartholome Gili (who had expressed his 
willingness to me of complying with the orders of 
Saavedra), to gladly exercise the duties of chap- 



21 



lain on the frigate Concepcion, although he has 
been informed that he would have to make the 
voyage as far as Acapulco, and from there back 
to San Bias. I send Your Honor this informa- 
tion to the end that, if it pleases you, you might 
communicate it to the commander of the Aran- 
zazii, and advise me of your good pleasure." 

The difficulty was amicably settled in accord- 
ance with Fr. jMagin's proposition. The Rev. 
Jose Gomez, a secular priest, who had come up 
from Mexico as chaplain in the Concepcion, 
took the place of the servant of God in the Aran- 
zazu, which was to return to Nootka, and Fr. 
Bartholome Gili, one of the Fathers retiring to 
Mexico, on account of ill-health, filled Rev. Jose 
Gomez's place on the Concepcion when she sailed 
for Mexico. 

Whether Fr. Magin at once traveled to Santa 
Clara from Monterey by land or took ship for 
San Francisco and thence made his way to his 
destination, is not clear. Certain it is that, as the 
mission records show, he baptized a child at Mis- 
sion Dolores, San Francisco, on August 25th, and 
that he officiated there at burials on August 20th 
and 30th, 1794. His name appears for the first 
time in the baptismal record of Santa Clara on 
Monday, September 1st, 1794, when he baptized 
a boy infant who holds number 2510 in the regis- 
ter. That many had been received into the 



22 



Church of God there since January 12th, 1777, 
when Fr. Junipero Serra founded the mission. 

From that day on Fr. Magin labored zealously 
and without interruption at Santa Clara for 
thirty-six years. Nor did he leave the boundaries 
of the mission except a few times in the first years 
of his ministry. He was present at the founding 
of Mission San Juan Bautista on June 24th, 
1797, and on that occasion Fr. Lasuen took him 
along to San Carlos. This was the only time, as 
far as the records show, that he ever saw the 
headquarters of the California missions after his 
arrival at Santa Clara. Though the lands of 
Mission San Jose adjoined those of his own mis- 
sion, Fr. Magin seems to have made but five 
visits there, and then only for the purpose of as- 
sisting the Fathers in administering baptism to 
the multitude of converts that applied for admis- 
sion. After 1798 until his death, a period of 
thirty-two years, the holy man, as far as we 
know, never went beyond the limits of Mission 
Santa Clara, save for the purpose of winning 
converts among the pagans as far as the San 
Joaquin River. 



CHAPTER III. 

State of the Mission. — Fr. Magin's Love of His 
Rules. — His Mortification. — His Illness. — Asks 
to be Retired. — His Zeal. — Local Difficulties. — 
Dullness of the Indians. — Statistics. 

WHEN Fr. Magin arrived at Santa Clara he 
was made assistant to Fr. Francisco Mi- 
guel Sanchez, along with Fr. Manuel Fernandez, 
and from August, 1796, with Fr. Jose Viader, 
until Fr. Sanchez departed for San Gabriel in 
October, 1797. Thereafter his only companion 
for thirty-three years was Fr. Viader. The In- 
dian population of the mission in 1794 consisted 
of fourteen hundred souls. The livestock num- 
bered 4200 head of cattle, 1000 sheep, 628 horses, 
and sixteen mules. The harvest during that year 
amounted to 3300 bushels of wheat, 1100 bushels 
of corn, 95 bushels of beans, 26 bushels of len- 
tils, etc. Twenty-four cattle were slaughtered 
every Saturday to furnish meat for the members 
of the Indian community. The converts and 
catechumens were employed in the fields, among 
the livestock, and at various kinds of mechanical 
labor. There were rooms in one part of the mis- 
sion buildings for spinning wool, for weaving 
cloth, making clothes, shoes, candles and soap. 
In other parts carpenters, blacksmiths, saddlers, 
tanners, etc., pHed their trade. Thus, for in- 
stance, in 1792 as many as 2000 hides were 



24 



tanned. Almost everything used or consiimed by 
the Indians and Fathers was produced or manu- 
factured by the natives under the supervision of 
the missionaries. 

Though the constant soHcitude for the spiritual 
and temporal welfare of the Indians, learning the 
language, preaching, instructing, administering 
the sacraments, visiting the sick, searching for 
converts in the mountains and plains, and bearing 
patiently with the dullness and rudeness of his 
wards, taken altogether required a spirit of self- 
sacrifice, Fr. Magin continued to observe the 
Rules of his Order and of his missionary college 
in every particular. To the prescribed fasts and 
abstinences and other penitential practices he 
added other austerities and long hours of prayer 
and contemplation. Very soon he contracted 
chronic inflammatory rheumatism, which afflicted 
him throughout his missionary life. At times his 
maladies hampered his work to such an extent 
that he felt in duty bound to ask to be retired 
as one unfit for the arduous task. Under the 
rules issued by the Spanish kings, a religious that 
volunteered for the Indian missions had to serve 
laudably at least ten years, or until he was dis- 
abled, before he could retire with the permission 
of the superior and the consent of the governor. 
The time of service was computed from the day 
of incorporation into the missionary college. Fr. 
Magin, having served more than ten years in 



25 



America, though only six years in CaHfornia, in 
1800 apphed for a permit on the ground of con- 
tinuous ill-health. Fr. Lasuen, the Presidente or 
superior, granted the request. Whether his 
health somewhat improved, or whether some other 
potent consideration moved him to postpone his 
departure, we do not know; at all events he did 
not avail himself of the license to retire. Four 
years later, having completed the ten years' ser- 
vice in California, and being withal more broken 
in health than ever, he again asked permission 
to leave for the mother college in Mexico. Fr. 
Estevan Tapis, the superior of the missions, re- 
luctantly granted the request ; but once more the 
zealous man allowed himself to be persuaded, and 
then resolved, come what might, to sacrifice him- 
self for the good of his dusky wards, and to con- 
tinue suffering for them, if perchance he should 
not be able to do more. 

Thus it was that Fr. Magin limped along for 
twenty-six years more, bereft of all comforts or 
conveniences. In addition he mortified his poor, 
ailing body by various means which only a most 
penitential spirit could suggest. From a letter 
of his companion, Fr. Jose Viader, dated April 
6th, 1812, and addressed to Fr. Presidente Tapis, 
we learn that another malady afflicted Fr. Magin. 
*T am well," he writes, ''but Fr. Magin is troubled 
with catarrh, though it is nothing alarming, 
thanks be to God. He is in bed . . . He is 



26 



infirm and disabled." Though his afflictions in- 
creased with the years, the venerable Father 
would insist on preaching to the people and visit- 
ing the sick. During the last four years of his 
life he found it impossible to administer baptism 
or attend funerals, as he could not stand on his 
feet. Hence it is that no baptisms were entered in 
the records by him after October 27th, 1827. Fr. 
Viader had managed the temporal affairs for 
many years, though not without consulting his 
senior companion, as he states in a letter to the 
governor; after October, 1827, he alone had also 
to administer the sacraments. Though Fr. Magin 
could neither walk nor stand in the last two years 
of his life, he would instruct the Indians and 
preach to the people in general. For this pur- 
pose he would sit before the Comm_union railing 
in the sanctuary, and from there address the 
faithful in his usual forcible and fervent manner. 
He appeared so weak at times that the audience 
vvould shed tears of sympathy for their pastor. 
More frequently, however, they were moved to 
tears by his vivid descriptions of the truths of 
religion. 

The flock of Fathers Magin and Viader con- 
sisted of the Santa Clara Mission Indians and of 
the settlers of San Jose, three miles distant. 
After 1804 the town of San Jose had a chapel of 
its own. On Sundays and holydays of obliga- 
tion one of the two Fathers had therefore to cele- 



27 



brate holy Mass among the settlers. However, 
the main work of the missionaries lay among the 
natives. The management of the California In- 
dians was fraught with peculiar difficulties, as we 
can see from a report which Fathers Catala and 
Viader drew up in reply to a number of ques- 
tions forwarded by the viceroy in 1814. The 
Fathers explained that three Indian languages 
were spoken at Mission Santa Clara ; two of 
these were similar to each other, but the third 
was altogether different from the other two. 
There was no inclination on the part of the 
natives to learn reading or writing, wherefore 
both arts were taught to those only that showed 
any desire and capacity for them. The virtues 
especially noticeable among the Indians were love 
for their relatives, submissiveness, and modesty 
in dress among the women. Their vices, on the 
other hand, were lying, stealing, gambling, dan- 
cing, immoralities, and infant murder or race- 
suicide. Superstitions also prevailed, inasmuch 
as offerings were made to demons and sorcerers 
were consulted. 

The existence of vices and superstitions among 
the neophytes must have been a source of much 
grief especially to good Fr. Magin. Hence we 
need not wonder to find him so insistent on teach- 
ing the truths of religion to the carnal, ignorant, 
and stolid natives. He also insisted that all re- 
ceive the Sacraments at least during Easter time ; 



28 



yet with all his fatherly solicitude, and despite 
the simplicity and clearness of his instructions, 
not even he could overcome the dullness of the 
poor Indians with regard to some mysteries of 
faith, as for instance the Blessed Sacrament. 
Comparatively few grasped the significance of 
this center of Catholic worship. For this reason 
all missionaries spoke of the California Indians 
in terms of pity, calling them Los Pohres, or Los ' 
Miserahles. Nevertheless, Fr. Magin seemed to 
take special delight in sitting among a number 
of these poor natives and explaining the several 
points of faith, the keeping of the Commandments 
of God and the Church, what reward was in store 
for the good and what punishment awaited the 
wicked. 

According to the records of the mission, during 
the thirty-six years of Fr. Magin's administra- 
tion five thousand persons were baptized, of whom 
comparatively few were white people. For in- 
stance, of the 1628 persons baptized at Santa 
Clara from 1777 to 1803, only sixty-one are 
classed as Spaniards. For the same period of 
thirty-six years the records show 1905 marriages 
and 5200 burials. Outside the Indian commu- 
nity settled around the mission of Santa Clara 
there were ten Indian rancherias which lay scat- 
tered over the valley. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Fr, Magin's Inner Life. — Shadows of Mission De- 
struction. — The Mexican Government Demands 
Oath of Allegiance. — Fr. Magin's Reply. — His 
Last Years. — His Precious Death. — Grief of the 
People. — Burial. — Fr. Jose Viader's Entry In 
the Records of Santa Clara. 

FROM the records and reports still extant we 
can glean very little or nothing concerning 
Fr. Magin's private or inner life. This portion 
of our narrative will, however, be treated on the 
testimony of eye-witnesses in Part II. The serv- 
ant of God wrote no letters. He devoted himself 
solely to instructing the Indians and to watch- 
ing over their moral conduct. Fr. Jose Viader 
attended to all temporal affairs, and wrote all 
official reports and communications. Fr. Magin 
would merely countersign the papers after ascer- 
taining their contents. There are a great many 
letters in the Archives of the Archbishop of San 
Francisco, in the Archives of Mission Santa 
Barbara, and some in the Archives of the City of 
San Jose written by Fr. Magin's companion, but 
not one from the hand of Fr. Catala. Nor does 
Fr. Viader say anything about his venerable 
friend, save that he occasionally remarks that 
Fr. Magin is ill or sends regards. Not till he had 
the sad duty of entering the death of the servant 
of God in the burial record, did Fr. Jose Viader 



30 



express himself regarding the virtues of his 
brotlier in rehgion. Even then, as we shall see 
presently, he said very little; yet no one could 
have drawn a clearer picture of Fr. Magin than 
his associate in the same house and work for 
nearly a generation. 

Fr. Magin was spared the pain of having to 
witness the ultimate ruin of the mission, which 
was brought about by the confiscation of the Cali- 
fornia missionary establishments through the so- 
called Act of Secularization of 1834; but the 
shadows of that most unfortunate event had been 
gathering about the unhappy neophytes ever since 
the arrival in 1826 of the first Mexican governor, 
Jose M. Echeandia. From his first appearance 
in Lower California this official showed himself 
an enemy to the religious as missionaries and 
managers of mission temporalities. He was the 
chief cause of the insubordination of the Indians 
and of the disregard displayed by the colonists 
and the soldiers towards the friars In charge of 
the missions. 

On October 4th, 1824, the new government of 
Mexico adopted the so-called Acta Constitutiva y 
Constitucion Federal, and decreed that all male 
inhabitants should swear allegiance to Mexico 
and to this Constitucion Federal. The mission- 
aries were at Hberty to act as they thought proper. 
Being Spaniards, most of the Fathers declared 
that they judged it wrong to take the required 



31 



oath until the king of Spain should acknowledge 
the sovereignty of Mexico. The two Fathers 
Catala and Viader held this opinion. When, 
therefore, Governor Echeandia in June, 1826, 
published the edict in California, and Com- 
mandante Ignacio Martinez of the San Francisco 
Presidio, to whose military jurisdiction Santa 
Clara belonged, demanded that each missionary 
should swear allegiance to the Constitution 
framed in Mexico, Fr. Magin on July 6th replied 
as follows : "To your communication of the 28th 
of last month, in w^hich General Jose Maria 
Echeandia demands in writing my formal decision 
concerning the oath to observe the Acta Consti- 
tutiva y Constitucion Federal of the United 
Mexican States, I reply that I cannot, and con- 
sequently will not, take said oath. In the thirty- 
three years which I have passed in this mission 
I have never meddled with politics, and if now 
they want to distrust me, who burdened with the 
age of sixty-six years and infirmities hopes or 
believes to be near his end, I swear to observe 
fidelity and obedience to the government and 
appointed authorities. God keep Your Honor 
many years, which Your Honor's very true chap- 
lain wishes you. Fr. Magin Catala." 

Thereupon the good Father and his worthy 
companion were allowed to continue eschewing 
politics and to attend to their missionary duties 
as of yore. It was the first and last time that the 



32 



servant of God came into conflict with the gov- 
ernment. 

The last two years of his life were a period of 
intense sufferings to Fr. Magin. As early as 
February, 1830, he was thought to be in a dying 
condition, for Fr. Vincente de Sarria from Sole- 
dad reported to the governor that the senior mis- 
sionary of Santa Clara was about to receive or 
had received Extreme Unction. The holy man 
rallied, however, and lingered on, preaching every 
Sunday and holyday and giving the usual in- 
structions until within a day of his death, nine 
months later. He could not celebrate holy Mass, 
but frequently received holy Communion with 
the greatest fervor. Finally on Monday, No- 
vember 22nd, 1830, at daybreak, the servant of 
God quietly passed to his eternal reward in the 
presence of Fr. Jose Viader and two men who 
at his request had watched with him through the 
night. 

When the tolling of the bells announced the 
death of Fr. Magin, immense crowds of people 
hastened to the mission from every quarter in 
order to venerate the body of the holy missionary, 
^^very one wept as at the death of a father or 
a mother. The remains were placed in an ordi- 
nary coffin made of redwood, borne to the church 
amid the sobs of the inconsolable multitude, and 
placed on a bier in front of the sanctuary. In- 
side and outside the building surging crowds of 



S3 



Indians and Spaniards wept and lamented. Noth- 
ing could be heard above the expressions of grief 
but the exclamation, "The saint has left us." The 
most vehement sorrow prevailed among the neo- 
phytes of the mission to whom the deceased had 
been a father, nurse, protector, teacher, and pro- 
vider in every need. 

On the following morning, November 23d, a 
Requiem High Mass was to be offered up for 
the soul of the holy man, though every one felt 
that the soul of Fr. Magin had not gone to pur- 
gatory at all, but that it was then enjoying heav- 
enly bliss. Fr. -Narciso Duran of Mission San 
Jose, it appears, was to be the celebrant of the 
Requiem Mass ; but there was no Requiem High 
Mass. Whether or not Fr. Duran had been mis- 
informed, or whatever the reason was, when he 
arrived at Santa Clara he had broken the fast, 
so that he could not celebrate. The usual funeral 
ceremonies were performed, however, and then 
Fr. Duran preached the sermon for his departed 
friend. He could scarcely overcome his emotion, 
and the tears streamed unchecked down his 
cheeks. When he could make himself understood 
above the sobs of the grief-stricken people, Fr. 
Duran told his hearers to remember the teach- 
ings, counsels, and the good example which they 
had received from the holy priest, and to carry 
out what they had learned from Fr. Magin so 



34 



that they might deserve to share his company 
among the blessed in heaven. 

Preparations were then made to inter the re- 
mains of the dead missionary in the grave opened 
for them just outside the raihng on the Gospel 
side of the church. The crush of the people, 
however, was frightful. The Indians loudly pro- 
tested against the burial of their Father. Every- 
body rushed to the bier to obtain some relic or 
memento. With knives and scissors the throng 
went to work cutting pieces from the habit until 
the body was almost nude. Nor could the two 
Fathers prevent the pious vandalism. Another 
habit was procured, but after awhile nothing was 
left but shreds. Not content with this, one man 
took from the hands of the dead priest the cru- 
cifix which during life Fr. Magin had generally 
worn on his breast. Others appropriated the san- 
dals. Soldier guards were called into the 
church, and Fr. Viader begged the people to 
allow the burial to proceed. He promised that 
every one should receive some token of the holy 
man. The coffin was then closed and lowered 
into the tomb prepared for it. 

The entry of Fr. Magin Catala's burial in the 
Santa Clara records reads as follows : "On the 
22d of November, 1830, at seven in the morning, 
my companion, the Rev. Magin Catala, preacher 
apostolic of the College of San Fernando, Mex- 
ico, returned his soul to the Creator. He was a 



35 



missionary of this mission from July, 1794, until 
the present time without any interruption, that 
is to say, for thirty-six years, and, excepting the 
first two years, during the thirty-four years 
always in my company. He received the holy 
Sacraments in due time ; he made his confession 
and received Communion frequently during his 
long and painful sickness. His whole life was 
exemplary, industrious, and edifying, and much 
more so his death. On the 23d of said month and 
year the burial took place in the presence of the 
Rev. Fr. Ex-Presidente, Fr. Xarciso Duran, who 
delivered the funeral sermon, but could not cele- 
brate Mass, because by accident he had broken 
the fast. The concourse of the people since his 
death was great, and the lamentation until after 
the interment was general. The entire population 
of the mission and of the town of San Jose showed 
plainly how much they loved and venerated him. 
On said day, in fine, in the presence of all, he 
was interred by me in the tomb which had been 
prepared very near the presbytery, or the first 
step, on the Gospel side. He was sixty-nine years 
of age, and a native of Montblanch, Catalonia. 
May he rest in peace. Amen. In testimony 
whereof I sign my name, Fr. Jose \'iader." 



CHAPTER V. 

Ft. Magin's Fame for Sanctity. — Practices of the 
People. — Fr. Magin's Relics. — Opinion of His 
Superiors, Fathers Lasuen, Sarria, and Payeras. 
— Fr. Jose Viader's Respect, 

THE universal sorrow of the people, the cry 
of all "The saint has left us," their confi- 
dence in his supernatural powers and in his guid- 
ance while alive, demonstrate what was the opin- 
ion of the multitude concerning the virtues of 
Fr. Magin Catala. Indians and whites alike, 
without a dissenting voice, regarded him as a 
saint long before he passed out of the world. 

For many years after the death of the servant 
of God, even in distant localities, such as San 
Juan Bautista and Santa Cruz, the people would 
ask the priests to celebrate holy Mass in honor 
of the soul of Fr. Magin, "a la alma del Padre 
Santo," as they expressed it ; but never for the 
soul of the holy man. Such is the testimony of 
the Very Rev. Joachim Adam, Vicar-general of 
Los Angeles, who for years was stationed at 
Santa Cruz, and of the late Bishop Francis Mora 
of Los Angeles, who in the early days had charge 
of San Juan Bautista. Over-zealous people 
would frequently go so far as to place burning 
candles on the grave of Fr. Magin to show their 
love for the dead priest. This was not tolerated 
by the respective pastor, because it violated the 



Zl 



Decree of Pope Urban VIIL, which forbids pay- 
ing such extraordinary respect as is accorded 
only to those whom Mother Church declared 
worthy of such exterior marks of veneration. 
"We all invoke the soul of Fr, Magin in every 
necessity, and we are always relieved," the people 
would say in reply for an explanation of their de- 
votion to the holy missionary. Things he did and 
his virtues were topics of conversation in every 
household. ''We look upon him as upon a saint," 
they answered when they were warned not to 
anticipate the action of Mother Church. "If any 
one has any trouble whatsoever," another would 
say, "at once there comes to our mind 'J^sus, 
Mary, and the soul of Fr. Magin assist me.' " 

Anything that had been used by the servant of 
God was confidently applied in sickness, par- 
ticularly in desperate cases of childbirth, and 
always with good results. Generally the people 
would, at the same time, make a promise to re- 
cite the Rosary, offer a candle, receive the Sacra- 
ments, or go on foot to the mission, etc. This 
devotion to the memory of the holy man was by no 
means confined to the Indians. It appeared most 
pronounced among the Spaniards and the better 
class of Californians all over Central California. 
To this day, after nearly a century, they speak of 
him as El Santo or El Prof eta. The people were 
formerly so sensitive with regard to the servant 
of God that, as one expressed himself, "It was 



38 



enough to make the blood rise in a CaHfornian, if 
any one said aught, even in jest, against Fr. 
Magin." 

Long before the people became aware of the 
extraordinary virtues of Fr. Magin, his own 
^superiors had recognized his worth. As early 
as October 15th, 1799, Fr. Fermin Francisco de 
Lasuen, the superior of the missions, in a letter 
to Governor Borica spoke of the missionary of 
Santa Clara as "Bendito Padre Magin," "Blessed 
or saintly Fr. Magin." Fr. Vincente de Sarria, 
comisario prefecto of the California friars, on 
November 5th, 1817, when reporting the charac- 
teristics of all the missionaries to the College 
of San Fernando, Mexico, writes of Fr. Magin 
as follows : "His prudent conduct together with 
a tender and religious zeal, which seems to con- 
stitute his character, gain for him the merit of a 
commendable and evangelical missionary in his 
ministry, which, besides his populous mission, 
comprises also the spiritual charge of the town of 
San Jose, one league distant from the mission. I 
do not doubt that this good Father could fill 
other charges and offices of some similarity to the 
one he occupies, if the present state of his health 
did not embarrass him, which very much prevents 
him from undertaking journeys." 

Fr. Mariano Payeras, who succeeded Fr. Sar- 
ria in the office of comisario prefecto, reporting on 
December 31st, 1820, says, "Fr. Magin Catala is 



39 



the senior missionary of Santa Clara. He is fifty- 
nine years of age . . . His merit is great ; hi< 
services merit recommendation for the offices oi. 
the Order, but he already feels very much the 
weight of his years. The rheumatism torments 
him, and he is almost incapacitated for travel on 
horseback." 

Fr. Jose Viader might have told us most about 
Fr. Magin's virtues and general holiness of life : 
but either his lips were sealed by a comirand of 
his late brother in religion, or he regarded what 
he knew too sacred to be divulged. As we have 
seen, Fr. Viader, in entering the burial into the 
records, merely remarks that Fr. Magin's "whole 
life was exemplary, industrious, and edifying, and 
much more so his death." In a letter to the gov- 
ernor, dated May 11th, 1816, Fr. Viader shows 
his esteem in these words : **If my companion 
has not signed my last report, it is certain that 
he saw it and approved it ; for in mission matters 
nothing is done which is not according to his 
pleasure and approbation, as is proper, inasmuch 
as he is older, experienced, and more worthy." 



CHAPTER VL 

Opening of Fr. Magin's Tomb. — Identification. — 
Archbishop Alemany Interested. — Petition of the 
Jesuit Fathers. — Decision of the Archbishop's 
Council. — Notary and Vice-Postulator Appointed. 
— Archbishop Alemany the Moving Spirit. 

ON Monday of Holy Week, April 2d, 1860, 
thirty years after the holy man had passed 
to his eternal reward, the tomb was opened in or- 
der to receive the body of the Rev. Peter De-Vos, 
S. J., who had died on Palm Sunday. A great 
multitude of people flocked to the church in the 
hope of obtaining some relic of Fr. Magin Catala. 
Among the many survivors, who had known the 
servant of God personally, was Juan Crisostomo 
Galindo, for several years majordomo of Mission 
Santa Clara and an intimate friend of the late 
missionary. When the coffin had been raised and 
opened, Indians and Spaniards, and especially 
Juan Galindo, identified the body as that of the 
servant of God, Fr. Magin, though only the skele- 
ton and the Franciscan habit remained. Back of 
the skull and around the chin lay bunches of gray 
hair. The jaws still held their set of fine, white 
teeth which the youthful John Alonzo Forbes, 
now Justice of the Peace at Jolon, undertook to 
touch with his fingers. His grandfather Juan 
Galindo, however, appeared so scandahzed at 
this bit of irreverence for the remains of the 



41 



priestly friend, whom he had regarded as a saint, 
that the boy hastily withdrew. The coffin lid 
showed breaks through which some of the earth 
had entered. Judging from the size of the skele- 
ton, Fr. Magin must have measured about five 
feet eight inches in height. 

A Latin record of the proceedings was drawn 
up and later on report was made to the Arch- 
bishop of San Francisco as follows : 

"Most Rev. Joseph Sadoc Alemany, O. P., 

''Archbishop of San Francisco, California. 
"Most Rev. Father in Christ : I, the under- 
signed, having celebrated the Holy Sacrifice and 
fervently prayed to God, at Your request and for 
the greater honor and glory of God and the Im- 
maculate Virgin Mary, bear witness to the follow- 
ing facts, to wit : 

"1. That the body of the Rev. Father Magin 
Catala, of the Order of St. Francis, rests in the 
parish church at Santa Clara, in the State of 
California, near the Communion railing, but out- 
side the sanctuary, on the Gospel side. The 
grave was opened A. D. 1860, in order to place 
the body of Father Peter De-Vos, S. J., who had 
died on Palm Sunday, April 1, 1860, in the same 
tomb. The coffin, which contained the remains 
of Fr. Magin, had suffered somewhat owing to 
the length of time and the dampness. The body 
was seen and recognized by many Indians, Mexi- 



42 



cans, Spaniards, and others who had known the 
Father. 

''2. There was nothing left save the bones, 
shreds of his garments, a little hair about the 
jaws, and some of the ground that had fallen 
through the cracks into the coffin. I have seen 
all this with my own eyes. Thereupon, towards 
evening (April 2, 1860) the remains were again 
placed into the same tomb. Upon this same cof- 
fin the other containing the body of Father Peter 
De-Vos, S. J., was placed. 

"3. Father Aloysius Bosco, then Assistant 
Pastor, was present during the whole time that all 
this took place, in order that no doubt might 
arise as to the identity of the body of said Fr. 
Magin. 

"Your most humble Servant in Christ, 
"Francis Ignatius Prelato^ S. J. 
"August 12th, 1884, The Feast of St. Clare. 
"St. Ignatius College, S. J., in the City of San 
Francisco, California." 

Devotion to the servant of God continued 
among the Spaniards, Indians, and Mexicans, and 
so many wonderful things were said to have oc- 
curred through his intercession that the Jesuit 
Fathers, to whom the Very Rev. Jose Gonzalez 
Rubio, O. F. M., administrator of the diocese, 
had given charge of Santa Clara in 1851, com- 
municated their observations to Archbishop Ale- 



43 



many early in 1882. From letters preserved in 
the archives of the archdiocese we learn that His 
Grace on July 26th and August 4th, 1882, made 
inquiries at Santa Clara with regard to the for- 
malities that must be observed in the process of 
beatification. In obedience to the Archbishop's 
request Fr. Dominic Joseph Lentz, O. P., of Be- 
nicia, on September 12th and October 7th, 1882, 
reported on the Cultus Prohibitus. Early in Oc- 
tober of the same year His Grace went a step 
further, and asked the Rev. Doroteo Ambris of 
Mission San Antonio to write a Life of Fr. Ma- 
gin Catala. Father Ambris replied on October 
15th that he did not consider himself equal to 
the task and therefore begged to be excused. 
From a letter of Fr. Jose IMaria Romo, O. F. M., 
Guardian of the Franciscan monastery at Santa 
Barbara, dated October 21st, 1882, it is evident 
that Archbishop Alemany was calling for infor- 
mation as far down as Santa Barbara with regard 
to the rumors of sanctity circulating about Fr. 
Magin. 

When the Jesuit Fathers of Santa Clara dis- 
covered that the Archbishop of San Francisco 
looked with favor upon the matter, they took a 
decided step and in a joint letter petitioned His 
Grace to institute the canonical investigation. 
The document written in Latin reads as follows : 

"Most Rev. and Most Illustrious Lord : 

"Among the saintly apostolic men, who first 



44 



brought the Hght of the Gospel to the inhabitants 
of these regions of CaHfornia Fr. Magin Catala, 
a member of the Order of the Friars Minor of St. 
Francis, was renowned. For thirty-six years in 
succession, from 1794 to 1830, he stood at the 
head of this Mission of Santa Clara, and he was 
known far and wide on account of his labors for 
the glory of God and the salvation of souls and 
because of his virtues. Inasmuch as more than 
fifty years have already passed by since his blessed 
death, it is to be feared that the memory of his 
virtues and labors may be lost and his fame de- 
cline, unless everything relating to the servant 
of God be at once diligently collected from those 
that still survive and may remember them, and 
ordered to be preserved in writing. 

If God be pleased to glorify him on earth also, 
the necessary proofs to justify instituting the 
process are not wanting. Hence the undersigned 
Father John Pinasco of the Society of Jesus, Rec- 
tor of the parish of Santa Clara, and his Assist- 
ants, Father Aloysius Masnato and Joseph Bixio, 
likewise of the Society of Jesus, hereby humbly 
petition Your Grace that, if You should judge 
it conducive to increase the glory of God, Your 
Grace in Your wisdom would deign to decree 
that information concerning the virtues and repu- 
tation for sanctity, which the said servant of 
God enjoyed, be canonically collected. 

"Meanwhile, wishing Your Grace everything 



45 

good from their whole heart, they humbly ask 
Your blessing. 

"Your Grace's Servants in Christ, 

"John Pinasco, S. J. 
"Aloysius Masnato, S. J. 
"Joseph Bixio, S. J. 
"Santa Clara, November 20th, 1882. 
"To the Most Illustrious and ^Most Reverend 
Father in the Lord, Joseph Sadoc Alemany, 
O. P., Archbishop of San Francisco." 

The Archbishop brought the petition to the at- 
tention of his Council with the result set forth in 
the following document : 

"The Ecclesiastical Council of His Grace the 
Most Rev. J. S. Alemany, D. D., Archbishop of 
San Francisco, having laid before it a petition 
forwarded by the Rev. Rector and Assistant Rec- 
tors of the Mission of Santa Clara, California, re- 
questing that steps be taken to determine the 
truth of the popular belief and tradition regard- 
ing the reputed pre-eminent sanctity of the Rev- 
erend Padre ^lagin Catala, who departed this 
life at the mission of Santa Clara in the year of 
Our Lord 1830, the members of said Council are 
unanimously of the opinion, from the statements 
set forth in the document referred to, that ample 
evidence exists to warrant the Most Rev. Arch- 
bishop to permit an investigation into the life and 
virtues of the Rev. Missionary with the view of 



46 

taking the necessary measures for having his 
name ultimately placed on the Catalogue of the 
Saints, in case the inquiry should result in estab- 
lishing his pre-eminent holiness of life. St. 
Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco, Nov. 24th, 
1882. W. Gleeson, Secretary.'* 

The Archbishop acceded to the wishes of the 
Fathers of Santa Clara and of his Council. On 
December 5th, 1882, with the consent of the 
Jesuit Superiors, he appointed the Rev. Benedict 
Picardo, S. J., Notary of the Process to be in- 
stituted. The Rev. Father took oath on the same 
day before the Archbishop in the presence of the 
witnesses, the Rev. George Montgomery and the 
Rev. Joseph Bixio, S. J. Father Picardo took 
great pains to find trustworthy persons who had 
known Fr. Magin, and others who might tell the 
facts as learned from eye-witnesses. He 
traveled all over the country from San Rafael to 
Mission San Antonio, took the depositions on the 
spot in the presence of priests or other creditable 
persons, and succeeded in discovering a large 
number of surviving men and women, who had 
been more or less acquainted with the servant of 
God. These witnesses and others were called to 
Santa Clara, where the sessions began about the 
middle of August, 1884, as we know from a let- 
ter which the Archbishop on August 11th wrote 
to Rev. Joseph Bixio, S. J., who had been ap- 
pointed Vice-Postulator in the case. "The main 



47 



thing now is to organize," His Grace says, ''and 
to secure the testimony of the old witnesses. . . . 
I will take along with me plenty of suitable paper, 
Spanish wax, seals, a tin box and key in which to 
lock the work when adjourning, as prescribed. 
. . . I have made all necessary appointments, 
and will notify the officers again. Please tell 
Father Congiato that, probably, I may be with 
him Saturday evening or Sunday morning so as 
to confer with him." 

All this shows that Archbishop Alemany was 
deeply interested. In truth, he was the moving 
spirit in the whole proceeding. It was he that 
wrote to different localities in Spain for informa- 
tion about the antecedents and early youth of Fr. 
Magin Catala. He also, though in vain, applied 
for particulars concerning the holy man's sojourn 
in Mexico, and saw to it that every formality pre- 
scribed by Rome was carried out. More than 
that. Archbishop Alemany himself approached 
various pious and wealthy persons in order to 
procure means wherewith to meet the expenses 
which must have been heavy. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Members of the Ecclesiastical Court. — The 
Witnesses. — Demand for Corroborative Evidence. 
— A Life of Fr. Magin. — Removal of Fr. Magin's 
Remains. — The New Process de Non-Cultu. — The 
Proceedings. — Ridiculous Non-Catholic Notions 
About the Canonization of Saints, 

THE Court which finally convened at Santa 
Clara to take the evidence was constituted 
as follows: Judge, the Most Rev. J. S. Alemany, 
O. P., Archbishop of San Francisco ; Vice- 
Postulator or Defender of the Cause, the Rev. 
Joseph Bixio, S. J. ; Notary, who had to take 
down the testimony literally, the Rev. Benedict 
Picardo, S. J. ; Promotor Fiscalis, popularly 
known as ''Devil's Advocate," the Rev. Aloysius 
Masnato, S. J. ; Notarius in Actuarium Deputatus, 
whose duty it was to compare the copy of the 
amanuenses with the original of the Notary, the 
Rev. Vincent Vinyes, O. P. After the testimony 
had been taken the manuscript of the Notary was 
parceled out to three scribes or amanuenses, who 
had to make a copy for the Sacred Congregation 
of Rites at Rome. The three copyists in this 
case were the Reverends Lorenzo Serda, of Oak- 
land, Cal., Emanuel Estragues, and Andres 
Garriga. The last named at present is Rector of 
the parish at San Luis Obispo. The copyists 
were sworn to secrecy until the promulgation of 
the acts. 



49 



Sixty-two witnesses were called and examined 
under oath. Of this number, twelve laymen and 
twenty-four women were eye-witnesses to the 
facts which they related. Six Jesuits, two secular 
priests, one Franciscan, eight laymen, and nine 
women had their knowledge from near relatives 
or other trustworthy persons who had been eye- 
witnesses. The main object of the investigation 
was to obtain proof that the servant of God had 
practiced the theological, cardinal and other vir- 
tues in an heroic degree. The alleged miracles 
merely served as incentives to the process. The 
result was taken to Rome apparently by Arch- 
bishop Alemany himself and there ordered 
printed. 

The Archbishop, soon after the close of the 
canonical process in behalf of Fr. Magin, resigned 
and went to Rome. From there he informed his 
successor, Most Rev. Patrick William Riordan, 
D. D., that the Sacred Congregation had exam- 
ined the Acts of the Court, found the evidence to 
be good, but desired corroborative testimony. 
The Very Rev. John Prendergast, Vicar-General, 
was thereupon directed to act as Judge during 
the subsequent investigation. The Court held 
one session at Santa Clara, but as nothing could 
be done until new evidence had been procured, 
the Rev. Benedict Picardo, S. J., of San Jose, 
was directed to present trustworthy witnesses, 
and to report whenever he was ready. No re- 



50 



port was ever made and no other session of the 
Court took place. 

In 1890, the Postulator-General at Rome took 
steps to further the cause of Fr. Magin. 
Through the Very Rev. Anselrrius Mueller, O. 
F. M., Definitor-General, now Rector of St. 
Francis' College, Quincy, Ills., he urged the late 
Fr. Clementine Deymann, O. F. M., of Watson- 
ville, Cal., to publish a life of the servant of God. 
In the absence of all historical material, this was 
an exceedingly difficult task. Fortunately, the 
Rev. Andrew Garriga, one of the three amanu- 
enses of the proceedings in 1884, had collected 
most of the testimony given by the witnesses with 
a view to perpetuate the memory of the holy 
man of Santa Clara. He readily turned the 
manuscript over to Fr. Clementine, who re- 
arranged and rewrote the story. For some rea- 
son or the other it was never pubhshed, and so 
the cause of good Fr. Magin was again left in 
abeyance. 

In 1904, the writer published a lengthy sketch 
of Fr. Magin's life, which was based chiefly 
upon the notes of Rev. Andrew Garriga. It ran 
through six numbers of the now extinct "Do- 
minicana," a monthly magazine edited by the 
Dominican Fathers of San Francisco. It was the 
first time that the holy man's life came to the 
notice of the general public. 

Interest was revived in 1907, when the Jesuit 



MEOS ET 




\ 

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF 
PADRE Umm CATAU,O.F.M. 

BORN AT IVIONTBLANC. 

CATALONiA. SPAIN, A. D. I7GI. 

BECAME A FRANCISCAN 

AT BARCELONA. A. 0.1777, 

ARRiVEO AT SAMTA CLARA. JULY A.D.I73I 

HERE HE TOILED. PRAYED. SUFFERED 

FOR 36 YEARS. 

DIED IM THE ODOR OF SANCTITY 

MOV. 22 A. D. 1830. 

BELOVED OF COS AND MEM. WWS£ MEMORY 

is fN bekedicbor: 

CCCUSIASTICUS. 45 I 



51 



Fathers of Santa Clara resolved to transfer the 
remains of Fr. Magin from the unmarked grave 
to the foot of the Altar of the Crucifix, where he 
had passed so many hours in contemplation and 
prayer for his people. On digging for the body 
of the former missionary, it was found that the 
old coffin had entirely decayed. Only a few 
bones, some hair, and pieces of habit were left. 
The pieces of habit were best preserved. The 
fabric was a coarse woolen cloth and of dis- 
tinctly brown color. The Fathers and Brothers 
reverently, though privately, gathered the relics 
and placed them in a tin box. The lid, which 
bore a suitable inscription, was fastened down 
hermetically and then lowered into the tomb on 
the Gospel side of the little altar. Over the whole 
was placed a magnificent marble slab with gold 
lettering, which recites the various dates in the 
life of the servant of God. At the head of the 
slab are the Franciscan coat-of-arms, and at the 
foot are the words from Ecclesiasticus xlv, 1 : 
"His memory is in benediction." 

In 1908, at the request of the new Postulator- 
General, Very Rev. Fr. Francisco Maria Paolini. 
O. F. M., the Sacred Congregation of Rites, after 
examining the testimony obtained in the former 
process, decided to advance the cause of Fr. 
Magin by ordering the process de non Cultu. 
This was merely to prove that no public cult had 
been accorded the servant of God contrary to the 



52 



Decree of Pope Urban VIII. A sealed list of 
questions to that effect was sent to the Arch- 
bishop of San Francisco, and by him turned 
over to the Promotor Fiscalis. The Sacred 
Congregation of Rites also directed His Grace, 
Most Rev. Patrick WiUiam Riordan, D. D., to 
issue a decree calling for the writings of Fr. 
Magin Catala. This decree was issued on No- 
vember 6th, 1908, and read from the pulpit of 
every parish church in the Archdiocese. 

With the consent of the Commissary Provin- 
cial, Very Rev. Theodore Arentz, O. F. M., the 
Postulator-General, on September 19th, 1908, ap- 
pointed the writer Vice-Postulator in the case. 
This made it incumbent upon him to procure the 
witnesses and to press the case before the 
Ecclesiastical Court to be organized by His Grace, 
the Archbishop of San Francisco. The members 
of the Court established by the Archbishop on 
November 6th, 1908, were: Very Rev. Richard 
A. Gleeson, S. J., President of Santa Clara Col- 
lege, Judge ; Rev. Reginald Newell, O. P., Prior 
of the Dominican Monastery, San Francisco, 
Promotor Fidei ; Rev. Engelbert Gey, O. F. M., 
Guardian of the Franciscan Monastery, Fruit- 
vale, Cal., Notary; Rev. Maximilian Neumann, 
O. F. M., Definitor and Guardian of the Fran- 
ciscan Monastery, San Francisco, Reviewing 
Notary; Rev. Bonaventure Oblasser, O. F. M., 
Cursor or Messenger ; Rev. William J. McMillan, 



S3 



S. J., and Rev. William Lonergan, S. J., scribes 
or copyists. All the members of the Court had 
to take oath and were pledged to secrecy until 
the promulgation of the Process, which took 
place at the review of the case in the latter part 
of February, 1909. 

The sessions began at Santa Clara on Wed- 
nesday morning, November 18th. Eight well- 
informed witnesses testified under oath. The 
last testimony was received at the last secret ses- 
sion on Wednesday, January 27th, 1909. The 
last open session was held Saturday, February 
20th, under the presidency of His Grace, the 
Archbishop himself. The documents were sealed 
and a messenger chosen in the person of the 
writer, whose business it was to take the papers, 
together with the few writings of Fr. Magin, to 
Rome. The cause of Fr. Magin Catala now 
rests with the Sacred Congregation of Rites. If 
everything is found to have been transacted in 
keeping with the numerous formalities pre- 
scribed, and if, after a rigid examination, it is 
shown beyond a doubt that the servant of God 
has indeed practiced the theological, cardinal, and 
other virtues in an heroic degree, then the Holy 
Father, the Pope, may confer upon Fr. Magin 
Catala the title of "Venerable," which, however, 
entitles to no such veneration as is accorded the 
Blessed or Saints. When, after that, two first- 
class miracles have been proved to have occurred 



54 



through his intercession, then Fr. Magin may re- 
ceive beatification, which permits pubHc cult to 
a Hmited degree, but is still far from canonization. 

We have somewhat minutely stated all that has 
transpired in the case of Fr. Magin, in order that 
those interested may understand that the "making 
of a Saint" is not such a simple and superficial 
matter as is generally supposed. Ordinary Cath- 
olics not infrequently lack knowledge and appre- 
ciation of the scrupulous care employed at Rome 
before as much as the title "Venerable" is con- 
ceded to a servant of God. As to non-Catholics, 
the dense ignorance and the flippant tone that 
prevail even among reputable historians and 
writers, when they touch this subject, are remark- 
able. One instance will suffice for illustration. 

Cabeza de Vaca and his few companions, 
whilst held prisoners by the Texas Indians from 
about 1529 to 1536, performed some remarkable 
cures which at least procured better treatment 
for themselves. "Our method," he writes, "was 
to bless the sick, breathing upon them, and to 
recite a Pater-Noster and an Ave-Maria, praying 
with all earnestness to God, Our Savior, that He 
would give health and influence to make us some 
good return. In His clemency He willed that all 
those for whom we supplicated should tell the 
others that they were sound and in good health, 
directly after we had made the sign of the 
Blessed Cross over them." In connection with 



55 



this incident, the apparently honest historian, 
Woodbury Lowery, on page 194 of "The Spanish 
Settlements in the United States, 1513-1561," 
New York, 1901, sees proper to remark: *Ter- 
haps when the storm of controversy aroused by 
this first of miracles performed upon our soil 
shall have been quite forgotten, another saint 
shall be added to the Calendar worthy to become 
the patron of the present State of Texas." 



PART 11. 

VIRTUES. 



^^?\ n.<i 




'i.^.^ 



"By their fruits you shall know them." 

(Matt, vii, 20.) 

WE have now to consider the virtues that 
adorned the servant of God. Mother 
Church, as we have seen, authorized an investi- 
gation as soon as her attention was called to the 
prodigies said to have been wrought by Fr. 
Magin Catala, and to the remarkable devotion for 
him which continued for more than half a cen- 
tury after his death. The object was to ascer- 
tain whether the wonderful man had practiced all 
the Christian virtues in an heroic degree, so that 
he could be set up as an example worthy of imita- 
tion. The Catholic Church, it must be remem- 
bered, has standards of sanctity quite different 
from those of the world. Unless it is proved be- 
yond a doubt that the candidate for the honors 
of the altar excelled in the exercise of the theo- 
logical, cardinal, and other virtues, alleged 
miracles have no weight in her eyes. Miracles, 
indeed, are not necessary to determine the holi- 
ness of a person. 

Whether or not an individual possessed the 
virtues mentioned in an heroic degree must be 
inferred from his words and acts. These are the 
fruits of his interior, and ''by their fruits you 
shall know them," Christ, Our Lord, Himself has 
given us to understand. Now "whosoever," says 
Cardinal Aguirre, as quoted by Fr. Palou, in the 



60 



Life of Fr. Junipero Serra, *'is found always and 
with all the energy of his mind to have observed 
not only the Commandments, but also the Evan- 
gelical Counsels, to the last moment of his life, 
and never to have swerved from that difficult and 
narrow path by word, deed, or omission, and that, 
too, according to the general opinion of men who 
admire such perfection of life in mortal man, he 
indeed with probability is believed to have been 
endowed with the infused virtues in an heroic de- 
gree, and also with the acquired virtues in the 
same degree." 

Pope Benedict XIV * describes the signs of 
heroic virtue in these words : ''In order that a 
virtue be heroic it must effect that he who pos- 
sesses it works with ease, with promptitude, and 
with cheerfulness beyond the ordinary from a 
supernatural motive, with self-denial, and with 
subjection of his affections." 

The virtues, which must be found in a true 
saint and which he must have practiced in so 
eminent a manner and degree, if he is to be ad- 
mitted to the calendar of the Church, now follow 
in their regular order. Let us hope that Mother 
Church will find that Fr. Magin Catala has 
proved himself a hero in every one of them. 



* De Serv. Dei Beatif., cap. xxii, lib, 3. 



THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES. 

FAITH. 

"Without faith it is impossible to please God." 

(Hebr. xi, 6.) 

<<r^AITH," according to St. Paul, "is the 
1 substance of things hoped for, the con- 
viction of things that appear not." ^ "Substance 
he calls it," says St. Bernardine of Siena, ^ "be- 
cause like a foundation it sustains the whole spir- 
itual edifice." Hence faith is the most necessary 
of all virtues ; but there are degrees in faith. 
St. Bonaventure ^ distinguishes three degrees. 
The first is attained by the generality of Chris- 
tians, who, without higher science and holiness, 
accept the teachings of the Church as the word 
of God. In the second degree the soul, with the 
aid of the supernatural gift of understanding, 
penetrates more or less what she accepts as true. 
To a soul that has reached the third and highest 
degree, faith communicates such a firm convic- 
tion and such a clear view of the things which 
she believes that she appears to see them with her 
eyes. This last degree of faith Fr. Magin doubt- 
less attained, as the narrative will demonstrate. 



1 Hebr. xi, 1. 

2 Sermo 2 de Dom. Qiiinq. 

3 De Gradibus Virtutum. 



62 



St. Antonine, O. P., Bishop of Florence, * 
enumerating the signs from which the depth of a 
person's faith may be judged, says, "One's faith 
may be proved to be great, if, in the first place, he 
has an exalted idea of God." Fr. Magin's view 
of the Divine Majesty must have been of the 
highest order, inasmuch as he sacrificed every- 
thing that the world and human affections cherish 
for his Creator and Savior. For his God he 
abandoned parents, relatives, worldly comforts 
and prospects, mother country, and the beloved 
solitude of his monastery, in order to bring the 
knowledge of God to the rude, dull, and unappre- 
ciative Indians of California. For God's sake, 
he went to the mountains and deserts in search 
of heathen natives, in order to gather them be- 
neath the Cross of Santa Clara, all the while tor- 
mented with disease and other sufferings which 
would have disheartened a soul imbued with less 
fervent faith. Only the deep conviction that 
God was supereminently worthy of all these sac- 
rifices, and many more, could have induced the 
zealous missionary to persevere at his post to the 
end of his life, not only bearing his afflictions with 
cheerful resignation, but adding to them by means 
of self-inflicted tortures which cause even un- 
worldly hearts to shudder. 



4 Sum. part 4, tit. 8, cap. 3, sec. 7, as quoted by 
Fr. Palou in "Vida," 315. 



63 



Eager to communicate the faith that makes 
happy, and in obedience to the missionary regu- 
lations observed at all the California missions, Fr. 
Magin would daily give two instructions to the 
converts, alternately in Spanish and Indian. 
The children were taught apart from their elders 
later in the day. The holy pastor insisted that 
all should learn the Christian doctrine well, and 
for that reason he would not weary of the end- 
less repetitions demanded by the dullness of the 
natives. On Sundays and holy days, and there 
were many more of the latter than now, there 
would be the sermon during holy Mass in Span- 
ish for both the colonists and Indians, and in the 
afternoon another for the Indians in their own 
language. During Advent and Lent there 
would be additional instructions in keeping with 
those seasons. In Lent Fr. Catala would dwell 
especially on Passion of Our Lord, the Sorrows 
of Mary, how to make the Way of the Cross, 
which on Fridays would be held on the famous 
Alameda half-way to San Jose, how to make a 
good confession and how to receive holy Com- 
munion worthily ; for he took care that every one 
complied with the Easter duty. During the month 
of May, and on the feasts of the Blessed Virgin, 
he would explain and urge the recital of the 
Rosary, which, with the Litany of Our Lady, was 
said in common by the Indians every day. 

A great longing possessed the servant of God 



64 



to have all men share in the happiness of the 
Christian faith. For that purpose "he would ex- 
pose his life to danger," Nazario Galindo testi- 
fied, "by walking in search of Indians. I have 
seen him go with my father as far as the San 
Joaquin River, about one hundred miles, in order 
to attract the pagans to the mission so that he 
might teach them the truths of religion." 
People insisted that some of his journeys could 
not have been accomplished without a miracle in 
view of the sufferings which they entailed on ac- 
count of the wretched state of his health. His 
desire for the conversion of the Gentiles became 
so intense that there were those who claimed that 
the holy missionary had gone into the mountains 
to instruct and baptize some poor savages unable 
to reach the mission, though Fr. Magin at the 
time had not left Santa Clara at all; in other 
words, that he had been in two places at the 
same time.. 

After the converts had been instructed and 
baptized, Fr. Magin saw to it that they regulated 
their lives according to Christian morals and dis- 
cipline. He insisted that they should render 
themselves worthy of the blessings which faith 
bestowed. This was no easy matter. The neo- 
phytes were required to put restraint upon their 
passions, and to become industrious in order to 
earn a living in a decent manner. This was un- 
known to them in paganism. In truth, the male 



65 



Indians regarded labor with contempt, and any 
kind of restraint as incompatible with their no- 
tions of liberty. Christian faith, however, taught 
that subjection of the animal instincts resulted in 
liberty of the mind, and therefore demanded that 
the applicant for admission into the Christian 
community should change his pagan habits. Not 
a few of the neophytes, like the Jews of old, tired 
of the new life and longed for their former un- 
bridled customs. Like a good shepherd the ser- 
vant of God would follow them when they ran 
away, in order to induce them to return. Gen- 
erally he would succeed, but sometimes to his in- 
tense grief he would fail. As a rule, the converts 
remained faithful. 

The fruit of his apostolic labors may be seen in 
the mission records still preserved at the Jesuit 
College of Santa Clara. From September 1st, 
1794, for instance, to October 27th, 1827, after 
which date his crippled condition made it impos- 
sible for him to officiate, Fr. Magin alone bap- 
tized three thousand and sixty-seven persons. 
Few of these were white. Of this number fif- 
teen hundred and fifty-three were over nine years 
of age, consequently Indian converts ; the rest 
were mostly the children of neophytes. 

From the exalted view which Fr. Magin held 
about God Almighty resulted his contempt for 
everything worldly that he might enjoy the com- 
pany of God. With St. Paul he could truly say, 



66 

''I count all things (earthly) as dung that I may 
gain Christ." ^ This, according to St. Antonine, 
is the second sign of superior faith. It will stand 
out clearly when we speak of the vow of poverty 
which the holy missionary observed to perfection. 
The third mark of heroic faith St. Antonine 
finds in a person who trusts in God notwithstand- 
ing all adversities. That Fr. Magin's faith pos- 
sessed this quality will become evident as we de- 
scribe his fortitude. 

Lastly a person manifests faith in an eminent 
degree when he does not cease performing good 
works. To grow weary in doing good and in 
continuing faithful to one's duties is one of the 
severe temptations of spiritual life. St. Paul, 
having learnt its danger from experience, warns 
the faithful to be on their guard and "not to fail 
in doing good ; for in due time we shall reap not 
faiHng." ^ Doubtless Fr. Magin encountered the 
same temptation, and with him the trial must 
have been far more keen, because of his almost 
lifelong battle with disease. He lived by faith, 
however, and his faith was of the superior order 
which remains unshaken, though "prophecies 
shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or 
knowledge shall be destroyed." "^ 



5 Philip, iii, 8. 

6 Gal. vi, 9; II Thess. iii, 13. 

7 I Cor. xiii, 8. 



67 



In his last years the servant of God could but 
painfully limp along with the help of an attend- 
ant. Nevertheless he insisted on visiting the sick 
in order to administer the Sacraments, to give 
consolation, or to provide the necessaries of life. 
He might indeed have sent his companion, who 
would gladly have relieved the infirm missionary ; 
but Fr. Magin had not the heart to load additional 
burdens upon his assistant as long as there was 
any possibility of performing the work himself. 

When, in the latter part of his life, the holy 
man could no more ascend the pulpit, nor even 
stand at the communion railing to instruct or 
preach, he would not dispense himself and let the 
people go without hearing something of God and 
divine truths. Seated in a chair at the railing he 
would preach with his usual fervor as though 
nothing ailed him. "It happened," Josefa Flores 
testified at the examination in 1884, "that weak- 
ness overcame him and he fainted in his chair. 
People would then weep for fear of losing their 
pastor." 

The holy man's style was very effective, says a 
witness. It moved the hearts of sinners to re- 
pentance and inspired fear of God. His voice 
was sonorous, and he spoke with all the conviction 
and fearlessness of an apostle. J. A. Forbes, a 
Scotch convert, who held the office of British 
Consul on the Pacific Coast, and who later acted 
as secretary and as teacher for Fr. Viader, de- 



68 



clared that Fr. Magin spoke like a man inspired. 
''It was my great privilege," he related, "to know 
as zealous a man as St. John Chrysostom, and I 
think fully as effective as a preacher. I refer to 
Fr. Magin Catala." 

A great many witnesses, including Mr, Forbes, 
according to his son, Alonzo Forbes, and his 
daughter, Mrs. Clara Sunol, now of East Oak- 
land, related that on certain occasions, notably 
on Good Friday and in Lent or in Advent, the 
servant of God would take a small wooden box 
to the pulpit, or later on place it upon the small 
table at the railing where he preached. After a 
little while he would open the lid and startle the 
people by taking from the box a human skull. 
He would place the hideous thing upon the lid, 
and then addressing it, he would call upon its 
owner to give an account of the life she had led 
and spent in sin. Intensely agitated himself, the 
preacher, in glowing language, would turn to the 
skull and exclaim : ''Where are now thine eves, O 
skull? those eyes with which thou didst strive to 
entrap thy dupes into thy snares ? Where are the 
ear-rings that dangled from thine ears? Where 
are those voluptuous lips and the vile tongue with 
which thou didst slander thy neighbor, and with 
which thou didst give expression to frivolous and 
immodest language to the scandal of all ? Where 
are now those painted cheeks with which thou 
wouldst deceive and beguile? Where are now 



69 



those naked arms with their jeweled bracelets? 
Where is that hair that flowed loosely over thy 
naked shoulders, or was nicely bound up and on 
which thou didst waste precious time, and with 
which thou wert trying to capture immortal souls 
to lead them to perdition ? Where are now those 
costly dresses that covered thy vain person, and 
by means of which thou wouldst make a showy 
appearance among thy kind? All has vanished 
like the smoke in the air ! O vanity of vanities ! 
They caused thy damnation ! Thy soul is in 
hell!" 

On such occasions, said Bernarda \ alencia with 
others, the people were awfully terrified and wept 
abundant tears. "Many women," Mr. Forbes 
tells us, "would be so affected by the eloquence 
of the priest that they actually fell into spasms, 
fainted, or would cry aloud for pardon." Some 
claim that Fr. Alagin would add the remark that 
the person, of whom the skull had been a part, 
was indeed in hell ; that he knew it ; and that they 
knew her ; but that he would not in pity for them 
reveal the name. The holy man's words also 
made an extraordinary impression whenever he 
spoke on the last things of man, death, judgment, 
hell, and paradise. His sermons as a rule had a 
powerful effect, because everybody knew that the 
preacher was not declaiming, but thoroughly felt 
what he announced inasmuch as all were aware of 
his most penitential life. 



70 



In preaching, the holy missionary was espe- 
cially severe against gambling, immodest dancing, 
and extravagance in dress. Among the colonists 
of those days these vices caused no less distress 
and sin than now. ''To this day," Mrs. Sunol, 
grand-daughter of Juan Crisostomo, who acted as 
Fr. Magin's mayordomo, related to the writer, 
''even now I feel the fright, the horror, aroused in 
us girls at what Fr. Magin preached on extrava- 
gance in dress, as told us by my grandfather. In 
consequence, neither my sister nor I would ever 
wear any jewelry." 

Sometimes, notably in Lent, when speaking on 
the Passion of Our Lord, Fr. Magin would seize 
the crucifix, which he always wore on his breast, 
and would hold such tender dialogue with his 
Crucified Love that the audience were moved to 
tears of repentance. 

The holy missionary would not only instruct 
his people in the faith and the duties which it 
imposes, but he also warned them against the 
clangers that would beset their faith. Whether 
he read the signs of the times, or whether Al- 
mighty God allowed him to see far ahead into the 
future, it is impossible to determine ; but in his 
anxiety for the preservation of the faith which 
he cherished, Fr. Magin warned Indians and 
colonists to love their religion and to instil it 
into the hearts of their children. "Other re- 
ligions," said he, "will appear which are not of 



71 



God. They will erect houses of false worship 
and will teach different doctrines which you have 
not heard from me. Many of you will grow cold 
in the faith, and will give up practising your re- 
ligion." Nearly all those that bore witness at the 
official examination gave testimony to this 
prophecy, or whatever it may be called. His 
announcement, at all events, demonstrated how 
deep was his own conviction and how solicitous 
he was to have the "faith more precious than 
gold" ^ preserved in his people and their descend- 
ants because eternal salvation depended upon it. 

The result of this incessant care that his people 
should know God and their religious duties thor- 
oughly was observed many years after the holy 
man's death. Rev. Benedict Picardo, S. J., who 
for thirty years labored in California as mission- 
ary and who at the time was assistant priest at 
Santa Clara Mission, testified : *T have always 
found the faith most firmly established in all, and 
never was it shaken by adversities, error, or here- 
sies ; never have I heard that an Indian or a Cali- 
fornian (Mexican) renounced it; and, though 
very many fell into vices and scandals, they never 
denied their faith, and at least in peril of death 
they always asked for the aids of religion." 

Juan Crisostomo Galindo, Fr. Magin's steward, 
general helper and close imitator, though he could 

8 I Pet. i, 7. 



72 



neither read nor write, had an extraordinary 
memory. He could recite all the prayers and 
hymns which the servant of God used, and could 
moreover quote long passages from the sermons. 
Much that we know of the holy missionary of 
Santa Clara comes through this faithful disciple. 
''On every occasion," his granddaughter told the 
writer, "my grandfather would exhort us to ad- 
here to our faith, and to pray for a strong faith, 
for so Fr. Magin had taught the people. It is 
therefore so strong in me that it could not be de- 
stroyed. I feel it in me strong, now. Every 
night till twelve I am on my knees saying the 
prayers and the rosary which my grandfather 
taught us children as coming from the holy man 
of Santa Clara. I therefore loved Fr. Magin, 
though I did not know him and have never seen 
him." 

Pope Benedict XIV mentions a few other 
marks of a superior faith, which we shall touch 
but briefly. The first is the external profession 
of what one believes interiorly. Inasmuch as 
every act of virtue, according to St. Thomas ^ is 
in a manner a solemn avowal of one's faith, the 
whole life of Fr. Magin was one uninterrupted 
exercise of intense faith, because it was an un- 
broken chain of most fervent acts of virtue. 

Secondly, the learned Pope says, the faith of a 



9 2. 2dae, q. 124, art. 5. 



7Z 



person may be inferred from the exactitude with 
which he observes the Commandments of God 
and the Church. Not only would the servant of 
God, Fr. Magin, keep the Commandments and 
Precepts faithfully, but he zealously urged all 
under his care to do likewise. He would, if 
necessary, correct and chastise the wilfully de- 
linquent ; but in order to do so justly he would 
allow no one to remain ignorant of his obligations 
towards God, the Church, the neighbors, and him- 
self. No one ever accused the holy man of not 
observing what he demanded of others. 

A most conclusive sign of divine faith Pope 
Benedict mentions in the third place. It is close 
union with God in prayer. All the witnesses bear 
testimony to the holy missionary's love of prayer. 
Wherever he went he appeared to be lost in de- 
votion, his lips would be seen to move, and he 
was heard uttering devout aspirations. Prayer 
was one of his common subjects of instruction. 
While journeying alone, or in company with 
others, he would be conversing with God. He 
would also urge his attendants to join him in 
reciting the rosary while wandering along the 
road in search of converts or when visiting the 
sick. The rosary hanging at his side was not a 
mere ornament. He recited it frequently. When 
he had died some one took it away and prized it 
as a most precious relic. In the course of time 
it was lost ; only the little cross attached to the 



74 



rosary was recovered and is preserved at the Col- 
lege of Santa Clara. 

Finally, St. Thomas of Aquino points to the 
working of miracles as an evidence of true and 
heroic faith. Though it is not necessary by any 
means that the candidate for the honors of the 
altar should have worked miracles while alive, 
Fr. Magin in this respect is not found wanting, 
as will become evident when we treat the subject 
in its proper place. From what has been related 
it is clear that the faith of Fr. Magin Catala was 
like that of Moses who "looked unto the reward," 
"for he endured as seeing Him that is in- 
visible." 10 



10 Hebr. xi, 26, 27. 



HOPE. 

'*Let lis hold fast the confession of our hope with- 
out wavering, for he is faithful 
who hath promised." 

(Hebr. X, 23.) 

According to St. Bernard, ^ "in as far as 
one believes in so far does he hope." 
Hence, we may infer the degree of Fr. IMagin's 
hope from the quality of his faith ; for hope pro- 
ceeds from faith like the rays from the sun. 
This noble virtue, the first-born child of faith, 
by means of which, relying upon the goodness 
and promises of God, we expect to obtain life 
everlasting, is implanted in baptism. It grows 
with the years in proportion as faith increases. 
It raises the heart of the earthly pilgrim heaven- 
ward to Him who ''continueth faithful," and who 
"cannot deny Himself." ^ In this virtue lies the 
motive power which carries the soul towards its 
supernatural destiny, and the strength which over- 
comes all difficulties of mortal life. Hope, ac- 
cording to St. Bonaventure, is the strong column 
which is placed upon the solid pedestal faith, and 
thus upholds the entire spiritual superstructure. 
It was this hope of a better life to come which 



1 Dom. in Pass. 

2 11 Tim. ii, 13. 



76 



prompted young Catala to abandon the vanities 
of the world at the early age of sixteen in order 
to consecrate himself to the service of God who 
rewards superabundantly. As further proof of 
the hope which animated him, it is enough to 
point to his conduct throughout the years of his 
bodily infirmities. His physical ailments were 
coeval with his ministry in California. They 
vrould have disheartened any ordinary man and 
would have caused him to leave his post in des- 
pair of doing any good. Fr. Magin could well 
apply to his own condition the words of St. Au- 
gustine, "Justly to me hope is strong in that 
Thou wilt cure my languors through Him who 
sitteth at Thy Right and appeals to Thee for us ; 
otherwise I should despair. Many also and great 
are my languors, but more powerful is Thy 
medicine." ^ 

This absolute confidence in God, coupled with 
good faith, at length, produced in the heart of 
Fr. Magin an intense longing to possess his be- 
loved Savior in heaven. It was akin to that of 
St. Paul, who wished to be dissolved in order to 
be with Christ. * An incident, for which Jose 
Antonio Alviso vouches, will illustrate this. One 
day during Holy Week the servant of God knelt 
at his customary place before the great Crucifix 



3 Confes. lib. x, cap. 43, torn. i. 

4 Philip i, 23. 



n 



in the church of Santa Clara. Besides Alviso, 
several other persons were present performing 
their private devotions. Suddenly Fr. Magin 
was heard to sigh aloud in Spanish, "When, O my 
God, shall I see Thy glory? How much longer 
shall my banishment last in this valley of tears?" ^ 
Awe-stricken, Alviso heard the answer coming 
from the cross, "Soon thou shalt see God in 
glory." ^ "Jose A. Alviso," my informant Alonzo 
Forbes, now Justice of the Peace at Jolon, Cali- 
fornia, affirms, "was a man of unimpeachable 
veracity. His integrity was never questioned. 
He possessed more than average intelligence, and 
was the head of a large family." 

When we reflect, as St. Bonaventure teaches, '^ 
that acts of virtue are so many acts of hope, we 
can readily understand that Fr. Magin's life must 
have been a continuous exercise of this most noble 
virtue. Nothing, say the Auditors in the Proc- 
ess of Canonization of St. Francis Xavier, de- 
monstrates more effectively the hope of any one 
than the exercise of good works and of virtuous 
acts. Pope Benedict, ^ adding his confirmation to 
this declaration of the Auditors, remarks that "all 



5 "Hasta cuando, Dios mio, vere tu gloria? Que 
tnnto mas diirara mi destierro en este valle de 
h'lgrimas?" 

6 "Pronto veras a Dios en la gloria." 
73 Sent. dist. 26, q. 4. 

8 Lib. iii de Canon. SS. cap. 23, sec. 2, num. 16. 



7S 



good works argue hope, and all good, excellent, 
and sublime works demonstrate excellent, sublime, 
and heroic hope." Fr. Magin's life was a long 
chain of good works performed under peculiarly 
distressing circumstances, through which only 
heroic virtue could have sustained him. Never- 
theless, as one who knew him well testified, our 
servant of God was never seen discouraged. In 
all untoward occurrences and conditions he 
would put his trust in God, and in his sermons he 
frequently exhorted his hearers to trust in God, 
no matter what happened. 



CHARITY. 

"The charity of God is poured out into our 
hearts." (Rom. v, 5.) 

1. Love of God. 

IN the opinion of St. Gregory, ^ the degree of 
one's faith and hope is also the degree of 
one's love of God. As both faith and hope of 
Fr. Magin appear to have been heroic, his charity 
could not have been less. "Charity the Great 
Apostle 2 rightly calls the bond of perfection," St. 
Gregory writes, ^ "because the other virtues in- 
deed generate perfection, but charity links them 
together in such a manner that they can not be 
separated from the mind of the lover. "Charity," 
St. Proclus, patriarch of Constantinople, exclaims, 
"is the climax of our holy religion." ^ "Now re- 
main faith, hope, and charity, these three, but the 
greatest of these is charity," St. Paul declares. ^ 
The marks by means of which the heroism of 
this queen of virtues may be recognized are 
enumerated by Pope Benedict XIV. ^ The first 
is zeal for the Divine Worship to the end that 



1 Horn. 22 in Ezech, 

2 Colos. iii, 14. 

3 Regist. lib. 4, ind. 13, cap. 95. 

4 Quoted by Palou. 

5 I Cor. xiii, 13. 

6 Can. Sanct., de not. et sig., lib. 3, sec. 3, cap. 3. 



80 



God may be loved and -glorified by all. This 
implies, first of all, a tender affection for the 
house of God, or the place of Divine Worship. 
Christ, our Lord, Himself manifested this 
quality of true love of God in a striking man- 
ner. Not only did He observe the ceremonies 
prescribed by the Law of Moses in every par- 
ticular, but we know Him to have twice shown 
Himself highly indignant to the extent of em- 
ploying physical force, when He noticed that the 
mere vestibule of the temple of God was put to 
other than religious uses, "and He suffered not 
that any man should carry a vessel through the 
temple." ^ 

A similar reverence for the house of God 
controlled Fr. Magin. Usually all the work 
about the mission churches and the dwellings of 
the Fathers was performed by male Indians. 
They also would serve at the altar and sing in the 
choir. For both these services the servant of 
God instructed and drilled the youths himself. 
However, for washing the linen used at the altar 
Fr. Magin engaged an intelligent Spanish lady, 
the mother of his friend Juan Crisostomo, in 
order that everything about the sanctuary might 
appear worthy of the Sacramental God, ever 
present in the Tabernacle. Another practise ob- 
served at Santa Clara gives evidence of Fr. 

7 Mark xi, 16. 



81 



Magin's deep reverence for the sacred place. The 
male Indians, especially during their festivities, 
and the pagans generally, would wear feathers, 
ribbons, and other gaudy decorations on their 
heads. Whenever they arrived at the church 
these Indians had to remove all their ornaments, 
for the holy man would not permit them to en- 
ter the sacred edifice save absolutely bareheaded. 
The Indian women and girls, on the other hand, 
wore a shawl over their heads, whilst Span- 
ish ladies invariably covered themselves with a 
mantilla or black veil. Every one that entered 
the church would dip the fingers in the holy 
water vase and in Spanish say reverently, ''Holy 
water, blessed by God, cleanse my body and 
save my soul." Then making the sign of the 
Cross the worshiper would say, ''By the sign 
of the holy Cross deliver us, O Lord, our God, 
from our enemies." It is not probable that this 
practise originated with Fr. Magin, but he evi- 
dently fostered it among the neophytes and oth- 
ers, since it was general at his time. 

From Tomasa Hernandez, the daughter of a 
soldier, and from Felix Buelna, who served Fr. 
Magin at the altar, we have the information that 
the servant of God would celebrate the holy 
Sacrifice of Mass slowly and with extraordinary 
devotion. Felix asserts that Fr. ]Magin on such 
occasions seemed to be in ecstasy. It is unfortu- 
nate that the examiners failed to question the 



82 



many eye-witnesses about the holy missionary's 
observance of the rubrics, ceremonies, his manner 
of administering the Sacraments, his conduct 
while performing other religious and ecclesias- 
tical functions, and many other little things. Save 
the accidental remarks of Buelna and Tomasa 
Hernandez, which do not even appear in the 
official record, though they were corroborated 
much later by the grand-daughter of Juan Cri- 
sostomo Galindo, no information on those points 
has come down to us. Yet the holiness or world- 
liness of a person is probably nowhere more 
quickly detected than in the reverence or irrever- 
ence displayed while performing the slightest re- 
ligious or ecclesiastical function. This evidence 
is far clearer than the working of miracles. A 
Judas could work miracles, and evil spirits may 
effect prodigies, but nowhere as in the sacred 
ceremonies does a person show that he is filled 
with awe for the Divine Majesty for whose sake 
the smallest rubrics are prescribed. By way of 
illustration two instances from the lives of saints 
will suffice. St. Teresa was in the habit of say- 
ing that she should have her head cut off rather 
than omit the reverent inclination of the head 
at the Gloria Patri. St. Francis of Assisi directs 
his sons to pick up and to put in a decent place 
scraps of paper which happened to contain the 
Name of Jesus or other sacred words. Rever- 
ence is, indeed, written all over the lives of the 



83 



true servants of God. It is a distinctive mark 
of deep faith and genuine love of God. Hence 
we must conclude from the whole character of 
the man that Fr. Magin excelled in exactitude 
and reverence with regard to everything that 
pertained to the worship of God. 

From what has been said it is evident that the 
holy man must have been filled with a tender 
devotion for Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, since 
he was so particular to impress the Indians as 
well as the colonists with a sense of the sanctity 
of the very building under the roof of which 
Christ dwells hidden beneath the Sacred Species. 
Fr. Magin also celebrated Holy Thursday, and 
above all Corpus Christi Day, with all the splen- 
dor possible in order to make his dull Indians 
grasp the wonderful truth that here is truly ''the 
tabernacle of God with men," ^ and that there is 
"no other nation so great that hath gods so nigh, 
as our God is present to all our petitions." ^ At 
Santa Clara Fr. Magin, on Corpus Christi Day, 
had three altars erected outside the church at some 
distances apart. The procession would pass out 
through the front door, make a stop at every one 
of the three altars, and then return through the 
puerta de costado, or side door, which was with- 
in a few feet of Fr. Magin's room. The Indians 



8 Apoc. xxi, 3. 

9 Deuter. iv, 7. 



84 



would sing the hymns in Latin as prescribed. 
Juan Crisostomo would swing the censer. 

Like St. Paul, who exclaimed, ''I judge myself 
to know nothing among you, but Jesus Christ 
and Him Crucified/' ^^ and like his holy Father 
St. Francis, Fr. Magin appears to have centered 
all his affections in Christ Crucified. At the 
foot of the great Crucifix, which still looks down 
upon the devout visitor, the zealous missionary 
sought inspiration as to what he should preach, 
guidance out of his difficulties, consolation for 
the waywardness of his flock, strength to perse- 
vere, and even rest for the body. Instead of 
retiring to his cell, he frequently would pass 
the night before his Lord on the Cross, lost in 
meditation, or sighing for deliverance with St. 
Paul, until nature demanded recognition and he 
fell asleep where he knelt. Often the faithful 
Juan Crisostomo would thus find his pastor on 
opening the doors in the morning. It was com- 
mon talk among the Indians and colonists that 
these nightly vigils at the foot of the Cross were 
not without wonderful occurrences. 

Naturally, the Sufferings of the Savior very 
often furnished the subject for the holy man's 
sermons and instructions, since his mind and 
heart were so absorbed by his Crucified Love 
that he seemed to feel at home nowhere save at 

10 I Cor, ii, 2. 




THE FAMOUS CRUCIFIX IX THE CHURCH OF SANTA CLARA. 



85 



the feet of the Crucified. He sought by every 
means to excite a similar devotion for the Pas- 
sion of our Redeemer in the hearts of all, and 
therefore, besides preaching on the subject, he 
had the Stations of the Cross erected along the 
Alameda halfway to San Jose. Every Friday 
Fr. Magin with the Indians would begin the 
Way of the Cross before the altar in church at 
three o'clock in the afternoon, and then visit 
every station in turn. The great Crucifix, at his 
time, was borne in this procession by Ignacio 
Alviso. He was supported by an attendant on 
either side, and they doubtless relieved him by 
turns, as the image is very heavy. In Holy Week 
the servant of God discarded his sandals and 
walked the whole distance barefooted. 

He moreover taught the people to foster a 
tender devotion for the Most Precious Blood of 
Jesus, and for this purpose instructed them to 
recite a little prayer to the Precious Blood in 
connection with their night prayers. Similarly 
the zealous pastor tried to implant into the 
hearts of the children a deep hatred for sin 
which caused the shedding of our Lord's Blood. 
To that end he taught them a little verse expres- 
sive of horror for having ofifended Jesus. 

In this connection a custom which obtained 
at Santa Clara may find place here. Whether 
it originated with the holy man it is impossible 
to determine, but he certainly encouraged it. 



86 



After the Consecration in holy Mass, everyone in 
the congregation would extend the arms in the 
form of a cross, after the manner in vogue 
among the Franciscans, and in this position they 
united their devotion with the priest at the altar 
until about the end of the Pater Noster. Better 
than words this beautiful and expressive cere- 
mony just at that period must have Impressed 
the slow comprehension of the Indians with the 
Real Presence of the Savior upon the altar. 

A man so full of love and sympathy for 
Christ Jesus could not help being devoted to 
the Blessed Mother of Jesus. Every morning 
the whole Indian population would assemble for 
their morning prayers in the enclosure before 
the church. There the holy man, first of all, 
would intone and sing with his neophytes a 
sweet little hymn to the Mother of God.^^ At 
night the Indians similarly in common, the 
colonists in their family circle, recited the Ros- 
ary and Litany of the Blessed Virgin and sang 
appropriate hymns to Mary Immaculate. The 
month of Mary and the feasts of the Blessed 
Virgin w^ere celebrated with particular splendor 
just as now and for centuries past. It was all 
very childlike, very tender, but it forcibly aroused 
the natives as well as others to a realization of 
the beauty of purity and sinlessness. Withal, 



11 See Appendix B. 






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88 



no others love the Savior so ardently, and no 
others try so hard not to offend Him, as do 
those that are filled with affection for His 
Mother. Fr. Magin himself, as Juan Crisos- 
tomo relates, would not take a drink of water 
without saying three times ''Ave Maria." Juan 
Crisostomo, who in everything endeavored to 
imitate Fr. Magin, followed the same custom, 
whence it is that his grand-daughter learned 
such practises and repeated them to the writer. 
Other friends of God were likewise objects 
of similar devotion on the part of Fr. Magin. 
The intense love with which the saints on earth 
and the saints in heaven regard their God seems 
only to increase devotion among themselves. 
Hence it is that objection to the veneration of the 
saints in heaven comes only from those that 
are abjectly ignorant on the subject, or from 
those that possess nothing in common with the 
saints. All the real friends of God in the past 
cultivated a great devotion for the glorified 
heroes of God in heaven, since they well knew 
the value of their intercession. They would 
occasionly take a lively interest in spreading 
devotion to their patron or favorite saints, as we 
see from the lives of St. Alphonsus and St. 
John Capistrano. The latter exerted himself 
to the utmost to have Bernardine of Siena can- 
onized. The witnesses and examiners at the 
former investigation overlooked this feature in 



89 



Fr. Magin's life, but, thanks to the extraordinary 
memory of Juan Crisostomo Gahndo, we have 
prayers in honor of several saints which the ser- 
vant of God taught his people to use. One little 
devotion is directed to God in honor of St. Emig- 
dio for the purpose of having earthquakes averted 
through that saint's intercession. A long prayer 
is in honor of the saint of the respective day. 
Another devotional exercise consists of the well- 
know ''Responses" to St. Anthony of Padua. 

A devotion very dear to every Catholic is 
the tender affection for one's own Guardian 
Angel. The servant of God, accordingly, urged 
his Indians and the colonists never to forget 
the good, watchful spirit ever at their side, and 
daily to recite a prayer to this faithful celestial 
friend. 

Nor were the dead forgotten. We have 
few particulars, owing to the oversight of the 
examiners, but from the fact that the descend- 
ants of those that heard and saw the servant of 
God preserved an ardent affection for the Poor 
Souls in Purgatory, made Novenas in their be- 
half, and had holy Masses celebrated for them, 
we can gather that Fr. Magin himself must have 
taught and practised as much. At any rate, he 
had the bell of Santa Clara toll for the dead 
every evening at eight o'clock. This was the 
sign for Indians and colonists to withdraw to 
their homes, say the prayers for the dead, and 



90 



perform their night devotions, which usually con- 
sisted of the Rosary and Litany with a number 
of other prayers and some hymns.^^ 

Another sign of true love of God is the fond- 
ness manifested for hearing or reading about 
God and divine truths. We have already seen 
that Fr. Magin never tired of speaking about 
the Creator and Savior of mankind, and that 
his instructions embraced all the truths of the 
Catholic Catechism. In this respect he was a 
true apostle, as Fr. Vincente de Sarria and Fr. 
Mariano Payeras, Franciscan commissaries of 
California, reported to the higher superiors in 
Mexico. It is superfluous to dwell upon this fur- 
ther. "He that is of God, heareth the words 
of God," ^^ is a mark of affection for God which 
Christ Himself indicated. 

There are other characteristics that distinguish 
the true lover of God, which may as well be 
omitted here, inasmuch as they are included in 
what has already been said or may be related 
further on. We shall dwell upon but two more. 
They are indicative of every true saint, and 
they are pointed out by Christ Himself. "Greater 
love than this no man hath that a man lay down 
his life for his friends." ^^ Fr. Magin, not merely 
by one, albeit most painful, act gave his life for 



12 See Appendix C. 

13 John viii, 47. 

14 John XV, 13. 






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92 



his God, but like Christ he sacrificed all the days 
of his monastic and missionary existence through 
a chain of most distressing circumstances and 
difficulties. For thirty-four years, that is to 
say, almost immediately after entering upon his 
missionary career in California, the servant of 
God suffered the tortures of most excruciating 
infirmities, working all the while with restless 
zeal for rude Indians and unappreciative colon- 
ists. At the same time he would observe the 
Rules of his Order and the Constitution of his 
College faithfully. Then, still thirsting for suf- 
ferings, he invented other means of mortifica- 
tion and self-denial in order to imitate his Love 
and in a manner to compensate Christ for the 
sufferings undergone in behalf of mankind. 

Love of prayer, and especially contemplative 
prayer, is one of the surest signs of a heroic 
love of God. In this particular Fr. Magin ex- 
celled, as we have already had occasion to learn. 
The very children were aware of this trait, and 
held him in awe as one who communed with 
Almighty God. They would peep through the 
keyhole or the cracks in the front door of the 
church, in order to watch the holy man at prayer 
before the altar of the great Crucifix. Some- 
times they heard him speak aloud to the Cruci- 
fied. Awe-struck the little Indian boys and 
girls would whisper while going away, "The 
Father is talking to God !" 



93 



A man so much given to commune with his 
Savior would naturally endeavor to excite his 
people to cherish a similar love for prayer, inas- 
much as it makes the friends of God fancy them- 
selves in heaven, so that it requires a strong ef- 
fort on their part to disengage themselves from 
its raptures. It makes them seem to anticipate 
their occupation in heaven, as St. Francis of 
Assisi, one of the greatest contemplatives, in- 
sinuates in these words : ''When we pray, we 
speak to God, and God speaks to us. We then 
already lead the life of the angels in heaven, for 
then at least we are in the society of angels." 

"On one occasion," says an eye-witness, ''when 
it had grown very late and Fr. IMagin was still 
before the Crucifix in church, as was his custom, 
Fr. Jose Viader, the assistant, went to him and 
very gently said, "Father, it is enough now ; it is 
already very late." The servant of God allowed 
himself to be led away, but reluctantly as we 
may well believe, from his beloved conversation 
with his Lord. An attendant asserted that Fr. 
Magin never went to bed ; but that he would re- 
main on his knees praying until sleep over- 
powered him, and he fell asleep just where he 
was, in the church or in his cell. In fact, when 
he was wanted and could be found nowhere, 
he would certainly be in church at his chosen 
place. W^hat has been related will suffice to de- 
monstrate that Fr. IMagin was possessed of an all- 



94 



absorbing love for God. We now turn to his 
love for fellowmen. 

2. Love of Neighbor. 

''My little children, let us not love in word, nor 
in tongue, hut in deed and in truth." 

(I John iii, 18.) 

The servant of God opened his heart in ex- 
traordinary love not only towards his Creator 
and Savior, but, obeying Christ's command, he 
in a similar manner embraced all fellow men. 
If other evidence were wanting, his apostolic 
labors would demonstrate the high order of his 
charity. Much of what has been said under the 
head of Faith applies here. What the several 
witnesses repeated under oath concerning Fr. 
Magin's effusive affection for the living images 
of God, which made him toil and suffer as he 
did for the very savages, not after the manner 
of calculating philanthropists, but because in 
every human being he recognized the picture of 
the Creator, sets the virtue of Christian charity 
as practised by the holy missionary in the clear- 
est light. He would hasten to alleviate the bod- 
ily as well as spiritual necessities of every one. 
He would make his way painfully to the hovels 
of the pagans, send or carry eatables and clo- 
thing, and by his persuasive, gentle manner pre- 
vail upon them to avail themselves of the means 
of salvation under the shadow of the mission 



95 



cross. If they refused, he would yet bear with 
their ignorance and rudeness, and endeavor by 
every means possible to gain at least the little 
ones. If the elders submitted, he would treat 
them still more tenderly, and lead them to Santa 
Clara rejoicing that he had won over so many 
sheep for his Divine IMaster. 

As his charity perceived the damage wrought 
by sin in the souls of his wards, it also impelled 
the solicitous pastor to advise and urge his flock, 
in season and out of season, to adopt Christian 
habits, to detest vice and disorder, to practise 
virtue, to avoid the occasions of sin, and to fre- 
quent the Sacraments, in order to obtain the 
strength necessary to cope with temptations. 
According to Spanish laws and the happy sys- 
tem in vogue in the missions of the Pacific Coast, 
the missionary towards his converted Indians 
stood in the capacity of father to his children. 
He had to feed, clothe and teach them ; he had 
also to shield and correct them. Fr. Magin 
treated all very kindly as all the reports show ; 
but he could be severe when occasions called for 
it, though that occurred very rarely. Before 
the Ecclesiastical Court in 1884, Nazario Ga- 
lindo, then seventy-four years of age, related 
this incident : "Once he ordered that I should 
be whipped. The discipline had knots in it. I 
said to him, 'Father, this hurts awfully.' 'Of 
course it does/ he replied; 'but the pains of hell 



96 



hurt still more.' " Nevertheless, all loved and 
revered Fr. Magin. 

The children engaged Fr. Magin's particular 
attention. He took great pains to have them 
well instructed. For them he had only kind 
words, and the little things of which children 
are fond, and with which their hearts are so 
easily won, were at hand as rewards for learn- 
ing some little lesson, or as presents. Clothing, 
trinkets, such as could be obtained in the coun- 
try far away from civilization, eatables, fruits in 
particular, and above all the pleasant manner 
with which Fr. Magin bestowed them, soon re- 
moved the timidity which boys and girls may 
have felt towards the priest of whom all spoke 
with reverence as a saint and prophet. It is to 
be regretted that the witnesses, in their eager- 
ness to relate marvelous things about the servant 
of God, overlooked the necessity of reporting 
more minutely every-day occurrences concern- 
ing the holy man of Santa Clara. We should be 
able to draw more lessons from them than from 
many miracles. It is certain, however, that Fr. 
Magin, who endeavored to imitate his Divine 
Master closely, sought to v/in old and young, 
especially the children, inasmuch as Christ Him- 
self extends to them a special invitation, and 
threatens with dire consequences those that 
scandalize the little ones. From Juan Crisos- 
tomo we have it that Fr. Magin arranged re- 



97 



ligious plays for the Christmas season in order 
to imprint the lessons of Christ's childhood upon 
his Indians, who were only overgrown children 
as far as intellect was concerned. Those par- 
ticipating were Indians, of whom some would 
act as shepherds, others as kings, servants, etc. 
In this he showed that he was not only a true 
son of the Saint of Assisi, but also an intelligent 
missionary, who knew how to adapt himself to 
the comprehension and habits of his converts. 

Like his Divine Master, Fr. Magin was filled 
with sympathy for the poor. The poorest of 
them all, though placed in charge of consider- 
able wealth, he regarded everything about the 
mission as the property of the neophytes. The 
wealth, though it consisted only of the land, its 
products, and livestock, had accumulated under 
the unselfish management of the missionaries ; yet 
the servant of God looked upon himself as the 
mere steward of the Indians. As they were in- 
capable of maintaining or disposing of the prop- 
erty in a manner beneficial to themselves, the 
missionary acted as father and guardian in their 
name without temporal benefit to himself. In 
this capacity Fr. -Magin cared for all, and as- 
sisted the needy and unfortunate wherever pos- 
sible. He would dismiss no one without bestow- 
ing something, no matter whence the applicant 
came. He would distribute whatever the store- 
rooms contained, grain, beans, peas, lentils. 



98 



seeds, meat, clothing, and medicine. If white 
people applied, they were expected to pay for 
what they wanted, since the property belonged 
to the neophytes ; but if the person was poor 
and needy, Fr. Magin regarded the applicant as 
one privileged of the Lord, and then gave what- 
ever was needed. In times of scarcity he saw to 
it that the produce was divided according to 
actual need. Once a thrifty Spaniard came to 
purchase a quantity of provisions. He desired 
to procure a good supply and had the money 
ready to pay for it; but as the harvest had not 
been abundant, the servant of God said to his 
customer, "Do not buy too much at once ; there 
are many others who are in need; for the pres- 
ent this is sufficient for your family." 

A neat little story was told by Aventino Guz- 
man, who claimed to have heard it from his 
father as a notorious fact. One other witness 
corroborated the statement. Just as Fr. Magin 
was about to celebrate holy Mass and stood at 
the altar, he suddenly called an attendant and 
directed him to tell the two men who were steal- 
ing flour from the store-room to come to holy 
Mass, lest they committed two sins at one and 
the same time. It seems to have been a Sunday. 
The two culprits, all besprinkled with flour, really 
appeared in the church. The stifled amusement 
of the worshipers may be imagined. After the 
holy Sacrifice the holy man mildly reproved the 



99 



guilty pair by saying in his soft, gentle tone, 
which showed that he felt hurt, "Why did you 
want to steal, when you know that nothing that 
you need will be denied to you?" When Aven- 
tino was asked by the Promoter how Fr. Magin 
could have known about the stealing, he replied 
in amazement, "How he knew? He was a holy 
man ! He had the spirit of prophecy !" 

On another occasion a Spanish woman came 
to purchase some goods. She had two or three 
dollars. When upon inquiry the Father learned 
that she was the mother of a number of chil- 
dren, he gave her double the amount she wanted 
at half the usual price. Instances of this kind, 
coupled with his uniform mildness, made the 
poor look with unbounded confidence to the man 
of God. Besides assisting them, he always dis- 
missed the needy with some words of consola- 
tion and advice. 

Another incident of Fr. Magin's thoughtful 
charity regards the people of the Pueblo of San 
Jose. Before they had a chapel of their own, 
which was not begun until 1803, the inhabitants 
had to attend holy Mass at Santa Clara. The 
distance was a league. In summer time the heat 
was intense, and the dust most disagreeable. 
The women and children suffered not a little in 
their endeavor to comply with their religious 
duties. The servant of God noticed the hard- 
ship. In order to make it less difficult to reach 



100 



the mission on Sundays and holydays, he had 
the Indians turn out and plant poplar trees on 
both sides of the road. As these trees grew up 
their branches covered the roadway, and thus 
furnished shade to the people going and coming. 
For many years the roadway was famed far and 
w4de as the Alameda of Santa Clara. Soon 
after Fr. Magin's death less devout settlers be- 
gan to cut down the trees for firewood. 

The sick and dying received the most devoted 
attention from the holy man. Nor did it make 
any difference whether the sufferer was a Chris- 
tian or pagan. He would endeavor to win the 
latter by means of presents in the form of cloth, 
provisions, or trinkets, but most of all by his 
gentleness. The killing of infants was not un- 
common among the savages. The mothers did 
not want to be burdened with the little ones, lest 
they prevent the parents from indulging them- 
selves as was their wont. Fr. Magin strove to 
impress upon the women that such conduct to- 
wards their offspring was most wicked and most 
detrimental to their race. To remove any ex- 
cuse, he would see that nothing was lacking in 
the way of food, clothing, or alleviation. For 
that purpose he would visit such people as often 
as he deemed it conducive to their spiritual or 
temporal welfare. When he had discovered that 
want existed, he would often send provisions 
secretly. 



101 

The solicitous pastor would above all see that 
the sick received the consolations of their re- 
ligion. Nor could ill-health prevent him from 
attending to this duty. Though he would insist 
that he be notified of any case of serious sick- 
ness, it was the general belief that he was super- 
naturally advised of the spiritual necessity of any 
in his flock, and then he would go even though 
he was unable to walk alone. Sometimes he 
would suddenly call an Indian, direct him to fill 
a sack with food, and to leave it at a certain 
house. Then he would call Juan Crisostomo, 
inform him that some one was sick, and ask him 
to fetch the holy oils, ritual, surplice, and stole. 
Placing one hand on Crisostomo, he would 
slowly and with much pain limp along, until he 
had reached the sick-bed. No matter what the 
distance was, he never used a conveyance, but 
always went afoot. At such times, Crisostomo 
related, frequent stops had to be made, and Fr. 
Magin would beg his faithful friend to join him 
in praying for sufficient strength, though with- 
out complaining about the hardship. 

At Santa Clara, as in all the California mis- 
sions, the girls from about the age of eleven or 
twelve, and the single women without a home, 
lived apart from the Indian village in a house 
erected for them. The Franciscan Fathers had 
introduced this arrangement immediately on 
founding their missions, as it was necessary to 



102 



preserve the young women from insult and se- 
duction. The girls remained at this home until 
they married, when with their husbands they 
would form part of the Indian village commu- 
nity. An aged and trusted Indian official gen- 
erally took care that they were not molested 
from without. Within, the wife of the corporal 
of the guard or some trusted Indian woman re- 
mained with the girls during the night; for they 
were not permitted to pass the night outside 
their quarters. In the daytime they were at 
liberty, when not occupied, to visit their parents 
in the adjoining village. The inmates lived 
pretty much after the same manner that is ob- 
served in our asylums or academies. They 
passed the time in taking part in the instructions, 
in learning housekeeping, spinning, weaving, 
and other domestic work suitable to their sex, so 
as to fit them for the married state to which all 
Indian girls aspired most fervently. Scarcely 
any of them desired to remain single. As to the 
holy state of virginity, Indian females of those 
times had no conception of its beauty or lofti- 
ness. Hence the system established by the mis- 
sionaries, owing to the carnal nature of the 
natives, and the brutishness of white adven- 
turers, was so necessary that a defense, despite 
the attacks leveled against it at the period of 
mission confiscation and destruction, is quite 
superfluous. The inmates were doubtless the 



103 



most happy, as they were the most innocent part 
of the mission population. The missionary had 
to provide for this portion of his large family, 
just as he was required to do for the village 
people. Fr. Magin, leaving the temporal affairs 
to Fr. Jose Viader, devoted himself to the spir- 
itual well-being and general deportment of these 
girls. Many of the women who lived as faith- 
ful wives long after the death of the servant of 
God, and who distinguished themselves for their 
piety and good sense, would with pride relate 
that they had been members of the "monjerio" 
or nunnery, as the people were accustomed to 
designate the home of the girls. The girls were 
called "monjas," nuns, though of course they 
were not nuns, and did not even dress alike. 
From this it is clear that Fr. Magin's charity 
had abundant opportunity of asserting itself, 
and, as the narrative shows, the holy man exer- 
cised this virtue in an heroic degree. 

The very brutes and insects experienced the 
thoughtful kindness of the holy man. Follow- 
ing the example of the Seraphic Father St. Fran- 
cis, Fr. Magin insisted that even irrational crea- 
tures should be treated with consideration. One 
instance may suffice. While conversing with a 
person one day an ugly insect appeared on the 
knee of the servant of God. The gentleman 
hastily attempted to brush it away, but the good 
Father said, "Let it alone; God made it." 



THE CARDINAL VIRTUES. 

"Temperance, and prudence, and justice, and 
fortitude, which are such things as men have 
nothing more profitable in life." 

(Wisdom viii, 7.) 

Next to the three theological virtues the four 
cardinal virtues are most necessary for the 
spiritual progress of man, and particularly in- 
dispensable for every one that aspires to a high 
degree of perfection. 

1. PRUDENCE. 

The foremost of the cardinal virtues is pru- 
dence, which moderates the others, and without 
which nothing can be properly and judiciously 
done that would seem to deserve praise or re- 
ward. Prudence according to the Angelic Doc- 
tor 1 is an infused virtue by the aid of which 
man disposes and regulates means and actions 
so as to attain his last destiny, that is to say, 
everlasting happiness for the honor and glory of 
God. St. Anthony, the Father of the monks in 
the desert, in conference with his brethren, after 
hearing their opinion as to which virtue was the 
most necessary, declared that prudence was the 
most needful, because it teaches how to choose 
the means between the extremes, which latter 



1 Prima Secundae, quaest. 65, art. 2. 



105 



are nearly always faulty. Prudence may also be 
likened to salt which seasons the food and makes 
it palatable. 

In how far the holy missionary of Santa Clara 
excelled in the practise of this virtue must be 
inferred from his words and deeds. He certainly 
evinced marked prudence, having in mind man's 
last destiny, when at the early age of sixteen 
years he despised the vanities of the world to 
embrace the evangelical counsels in a religious 
Order for the purpose of securing eternal hap- 
piness. He furthermore acted wisely when he 
determined to follow his Divine ^Master's ex- 
ample by devoting himself to the work of saving 
immortal souls in regions where there was 
dearth of apostolic men, and when he volun- 
teered for the missions among the savages of 
America, where he labored zealously until Al- 
mighty God called him to his reward. 

The assiduous exercise of prayer, the con- 
stant contemplation of heavenly truths, despite 
the manifold distracting occupations of an In- 
dian missionary, which as it appears never di- 
verted Fr. Magin's mind from the grand fact 
that God is ever present, is another convincing 
sign of a most prudent soul ; for prayer is the 
best means to obtain life everlasting. 

All the acts and words of Fr. Magin, as far 
as could be ascertained, bespeak the man using 
the right means to avoid jeopardizing his eter- 



106 



nal destiny or the everlasting welfare of those 
entrusted to him. He exercised such care and 
paternal solicitude in counseling, exhorting, 
warning, and teaching his flock that all im- 
plicitly put their trust in his guidance. He was 
a most prudent and kindly moderator of peni- 
tents. He would listen with patience and dis- 
miss them fortified by his wise counsel. All 
witnesses affirm that the holy man received every 
one affectionately, sympathized with the af- 
flicted, and gave them the salutary advice that 
helped them to continue true to their God despite 
adversities or allurements. Fr. Magin was very 
particular to admonish the heads of families to 
warn their children and to set them a good ex- 
ample. The result of his wise supervision was 
that his penitents were said to have been dis- 
tinguished for their fervor, piety, and love for 
Jesus Christ Crucified. 

As a lover of peace, the servant of God did 
everything to preserve harmony among his 
people and with the government officials ; but 
this does not mean that he permitted injustice 
against the rights of his wards for the sake of 
peace. When the colonists of San Jose en- 
croached upon the property of the mission, which 
belonged to the Indians, Fr. Magin firmly op- 
posed the assumption of the white settlers. On 
the other hand, he would w^aive his own personal 
rights, and accept insults from government ofii- 



107 



cers, immoral white men or obstreperous natives, 
for the sake of peace. When discord arose be- 
tween husbands and wives, he exhorted them to 
come to terms, remembering that their duties to- 
wards each other lasted while they lived, and 
that they should bear the cross which Almighty 
God had laid upon their shoulders, inasmuch as 
they could not escape it by throwing it down ; 
that God, who wanted all to bear up under some 
kind of affliction for their own benefit, knew just 
which kind of cross fitted each one best. 

It is an historical fact, and the witnesses at 
the canonical examination under oath so stated, 
that there never was any friction between Fr. 
Magin and his companion, Fr. Jose Viader, 
during the whole thirty-four years that they lived 
together. There are a great many letters extant 
which were written by Fr. Viader. He always 
speaks with respect of his senior companion. 
In one communication to the governor Fr. Via- 
der expressly declares that he did nothing which 
did not have the approval of the infirm Fr. Ma- 
gin. This was saying a great deal, because the 
whole temporal management of the populous 
mission rested upon the shoulders of Fr. Via- 
der. It was he that drew up the official reports 
and attended to all correspondence. The fomier 
were merely countersigned by Fr. Magin, but 
otherwise the servant of God wrote neither let- 
ters nor anything else. This is the reason why 



108 



we are compelled to rely for judgment of the 
holy man's inner life upon his words and deeds 
as far as they came under the notice of the 
people. The two missionaries of Santa Clara, 
as one witness expressed it before the Ecclesias- 
tical Court, appeared to be like two persons in 
one. So well did they agree. This shows that 
Fr. Jose Viader himself must have been a faith- 
ful religious and conscientious missionary. 

Though from predilection less occupied with 
temporal things than his fellow missionary, Fr. 
Magin was never idle. The spiritual affairs of 
the mission claimed much time, and the rest 
he passed in prayer and contemplation. He 
took care that every one was employed, and 
he watched that no disorders occurred. Of 
course, there had to be diversions for the In- 
dians. They constituted a part of the attractions 
for the natives, who were childishly fond of 
every kind of amusement. Substitutes had to be 
provided for the unseemly diversions in vogue 
among the savages, or the neophytes would run 
away. The arrangement and supervision of this 
phase of the mission system, the servant of God 
left to the judgment of Fr. Viader. His own 
contemplative spirit could scarcely wrest itself 
from the lofty subjects which fascinated his soul. 
It was well, therefore, that his energetic com- 
panion took charge in so far as was necessary to 
prevent dangerous or improper amusements. 






^ 5 

3* O 

o > 

i 2 

-^ > 



X l-N 

3 J 



f.i> 



V 



'-Sii' 





109 



Fr. Magin showed his prudence in many other 
ways, but especially with regard to females. 
With Job he could truly say, "I made a cov- 
enant with my eyes, that I would not so much 
as think upon a virgin." ^ The holy man's cus- 
tom was not to gaze at the face of any one. As 
to women it was his inflexible rule. Nor would 
he permit women to see his own countenance 
when they approached him on some business or 
the other. He would draw the hood far over 
his brow so that his face could not be seen. In- 
stead of feeling offended on that account, this 
habit of Fr. Magin seemed to have removed 
some of the timidity of the women ; for, as one 
naively expressed herself, neither could he recog- 
nize them ! At any rate, all approached him with 
confidence when there was serious business to 
be transacted, and departed with more courage 
because of the sound advice which he had given. 
One woman testified that though she had known 
the servant of God many years, she never had 
the opportunity of seeing his face during ordi- 
nary conversation. 

2. JUSTICE. 

Of the second cardinal virtue, justice, St. An- 
selm ^ says, "J^-^stice is the liberty of the soul 
which accords to each one his proper dignity, 



2 Job xxxi, 1. 

1 Lib. Cur Dens Homo. 



no 



reverence to the superior, harmony towards 
equals, instruction to the inferior, obedience to 
God, sanctification to one's self, and unstinted 
liberality to the needy." 

As far as could be ascertained, Fr. Magin 
showed due respect even to the haughty govern- 
ment officials. There is not the least complaint 
to the contrary on record. His own- superiors 
entertained a high opinion of him, and barring 
his corporal infirmities, judged him worthy of 
any position in the Order. 

We have already adverted to the fraternal re- 
gard with which Fr. Viader and Fr. Magin 
treated each other; further remarks on the sub- 
ject may therefore be omitted. 

Although a man of few words, Fr. Magin 
was affable and treated every one with paternal 
solicitude. As we have already seen, he in- 
structed his neophytes and the colonists well ; 
warned them against the snares of the evil spirit, 
against dangers to their faith from heretics and 
unbelievers in the future, and by word and ex- 
ample directed them on the road to heaven. If 
any of them missed his eternal destiny, surely it 
could not be attributed to the zealous pastor. 
His sense of what is just would not permit him 
to let any one remain in ignorance of his religious 
duties ; nor would he allow any one to despise 
the Law of God or the Church. Lest some one 
find an excuse in the conduct of the pastor, Fr. 



Ill 



Magin took the lead in the strict observance of 
everything that was prescribed. 

Though his numerous afflictions and his po- 
sition as Indian missionary might have dis- 
pensed him from many minor rules and regu- 
lations of the Order or College, the servant of 
God continued to observe the Franciscan Rule 
in the strict manner customary at the mission- 
ary College of San Fernando. No wonder the 
blessing of St. Francis attended his zealous 
efforts, and the superiors thought of elevating 
him to higher offices. Only his infirmities, 
which precluded traveling from one mission to 
another every year for the canonical visitations, 
prevented the execution of the plan. 

Lastly, it is characteristic of Christian justice 
to be generous and compassionate towards the 
poor and afflicted. There is no question that Fr. 
Magin was loved and revered by Indians and 
colonists for this very generosity towards those 
in distress. The whole mission might have been 
called a great charitable institution of which the 
holy man was the dispenser or almoner. As we 
have already dwelt at some length upon his 
charity, we shall pass on to the next virtue. 

3. FORTITUDE. 
While speaking of the virtue of fortitude St. 
Ambrose, quoted by St. Bonaventure, ^ says that 



iSee Palou, "Vida," pp. 304-307. 



112 



"he is strong who consoles himself when he is 
suffering any pain." Great and almost contin- 
uous were the sufferings which Fr. Magin had 
to bear on account of the malignant and chronic 
rheumatism which began to attack him almost 
as soon as he took charge of Mission Santa 
Clara. His last three years may indeed be called 
a slow martyrdom. He never compjained. In 
1799 and again in 1804 the sufferer explained 
his condition to the Fr. Presidente, and asked 
for permission to retire to his monastery in 
Mexico, seeing that his illness seemed to render 
him useless for mission work. He received the 
required permit, but finally decided to stay at his 
post until Almighty God should manifest His 
will by removing him through death or other- 
wise, content to suffer for his Indians in case he 
could not be active in their behalf. The holy 
man, however, was exceedingly active in spite 
of his physical disabilities, and that makes his 
fortitude appear the more heroic. 

In the second place, St. Ambrose teaches that 
"that virtue is indeed jtistly called fortitude by 
means of which one overcomes himself and 
checks his angry passions." Fr. Magin was so 
absolutely master of himself that nothing seemed 
to ruffle him, save when God was insulted and 
His Commandments or the Precepts of God's 
Church despised. Accustomed to recognize the 
will of God in every occurrence, the holy man 



113 



found it quite in keeping with his condition of 
creature and child of God to make the acts of 
resignation so indicative of conformity with the 
Divine Will which should be the characteristic of 
every Christian. It may be truthfully said that 
Fr. Magin's life was one long, beautiful act of 
resignation to the sweet Divine Will whose very 
chastisements are evidences of love. 

Though the servant of God was never known 
to have manifested any sign of anger in matters 
that affected his own person, he could express 
himself quite forcibly and fearlessly when the 
occasion called for plain language. Thus when 
in 1826 Governor Echeandia, the first Mexican 
ruler of California, demanded that the mission- 
aries should swear allegiance to the government 
of Mexico and the Mexican Constitution as 
framed by the politicians who then controlled 
that country, Fr, Magin with most of the 
Fathers refused until the King of Spain should 
recognize the independence of Mexico. They 
claimed prior allegiance to the mother country, 
and therefore thought that the new oath was 
incompatible with their sense of loyalty to the 
king. Though none of them took much interest 
in the temporal affairs of the republic, rather 
ignored them in order to advance the spiritual 
and temporal welfare of their Indians, all the 
missionaries offered to swear to obey the author- 
ities that existed. This was in compliance with 



114 



the teaching of St. Paul, who would have all 
Christians render obedience even to wicked 
rulers, inasmuch as ''there is no power except 
from God." ^ Fr. Magin's reply was to the 
point as follows : "I cannot and consequently 
will not take said oath. During the thirty-three 
years since I have been in this mission I have 
never meddled with political matters ; and if now 
they want to distrust me, who at the age of 
sixty-six years and burdened with infirmities 
hopes and believes to be near the end, I swear 
to observe fidelity and obedience to the govern- 
ment and the constituted authorities." Though 
expulsion was threatened, he would not be 
moved, and was then allowed to die in peace at 
the mission. This occurred, happily, before the 
holy man could witness the ruin brought upon 
all the missions through the machinations of 
unscrupulous, anti-Christian politicians in both 
Mexico and California. 

One should think that a man so considerate 
and inofifensive as Fr. Magin could have no ene- 
mies except the devil; yet he, too, had to ex- 
perience what it is to be vexed and persecuted 
by bad Christians whose vices he had to re- 
prove, or to encounter the contemptible conduct 
of haughty military officers. Thus on January 
7th, 1797, Governor Borica found it necessary to 

2 Rom. xiii, 1. 



115 



teach two young military officers a lesson, when 
he ordered Ignacio Vallejo and Gabriel Moraga 
to give satisfaction to Fr. Catala for their rude- 
ness. At the same time he asked the Father to 
bear a little with the manners of men who were 
not educated **in a college of nobles, nor in a 
Roman school." ^ What the trouble really was, 
it is impossible to state. It is certain that the 
servant of God wrote not a hue, nor did he draw 
the attention of the governor to the matter 
through others. Borica must have been made 
acquainted with the offense of the two men by 
some one else. As early as the year before, Sep- 
tember 3, 1796, Governor Borica wrote that it 
was reported to him that Fr. Catala had threat- 
ened the official in charge at San Jose, apparently 
Vallejo, to destroy the house if he admitted 
Christian natives to the town. The governor re- 
garded the charge as so absurd that he would 
not believe it, and moreover remarked that Fr. 
Magin was a friar, not a Robespierre. 

These incidents go to show with what kind of 
people the missionaries had to deal in the per- 
sons of some colonists and soldiers, and they also 
prove in what esteem the servant of God was 
held from the very first years of his ministry at 
Mission Santa Clara. It may be said, however, 
that as a rule Fr. Magin had no enemies save 



3 "En colegio de nobles ni en el romano.' 



116 



those that were already the enemies of God. He, 
therefore, had few opportunities to display his 
spirit of forgiveness. 

''The soul is not weakened or overcome by 
temptations," St. Ambrose mentions as the third 
mark of Christian fortitude. Fr. Magin doubt- 
less encountered the temptation to cling to 
parents, home, country, comforts, and worldly 
prospects ; but these considerations could not 
withdraw him from the one object which he had 
learned to prize as alone worth acquiring — his 
dear Christ Crucified. Doubtless, too, his phy- 
sical disabilities afforded the evil spirits abun- 
dant opportunities for tormenting the holy man 
dreadfully. If St. Paul was not spared these 
difficulties, a poor missionary aspiring to be with 
Christ must have been subjected to similar vexa- 
tions from the powers of darkness. The life of 
a missionary among pagans, or in the midst of 
those that have scarcely renounced all pagan 
habits, at best is a life of wearisome toil and 
disappointment. If at the same time health and 
every convenience be wanting, only Christian 
fortitude in an heroic degree will enable the over- 
burdened laborer in the vineyard of the Lord to 
persevere. Fr. Magin possessed this virtue, and 
therefore a faithful attendant could truthfully 
affirm, 'T have never seen him discouraged." 
When his swollen and sore feet made it impos- 
sible for the sufferer to walk alone to the 



117 



wretched rancherias of the pagans or outlying 
Christian Indians, as there was no other con- 
veyance than the huge carts drawn by slow 
oxen, and as Fr. Magin could not ride on horse- 
back on account of his rheumatism, he would 
lean on Juan Crisostomo or some other guide and 
limp along as well as he could. He remained 
cheerful withal, so that no one could tell whether 
or not the holy man suffered any pain. 

Nor would he depart from his penitential man- 
ner of life because of his ailments. He practised 
all the austerities prescribed by the Franciscan 
Rule or the Constitutions of his missionary col- 
lege, and added many more as hunger and thirst 
for righteousness suggested. Hence it was 
that he could with effect exhort his people to 
practise patience and to do penance, inasmuch 
as they had in him a shining example of the 
spirit of penance and Christian resignation which 
must have shamed into silence those that neg- 
lected serious duties because of slight incon- 
veniences. 

Fr. Magin's fortitude appears most brightly in 
his last illness, which lasted nearly a year ; for 
as early as February 9th, 1830, Fr. Vincente de 
Sarria, the commissary, reported to the governor 
that the servant of God had received Extreme 
Unction. He did not die until nine months later, 
however. It is sickness that lays bare the char- 
acter of man. Fr. Magin's infirmities had been 



118 



increasing for years. For nearly four years he 
could not officiate at baptisms ; but as we have 
seen, he never neglected to preach. Besides suf- 
fering from his feet, a witness testified that after 
his death it was found that one arm was badly 
sore, it was thought from the wearing of some 
instrument of penance. Though from the force 
of circumstances, but especially from choice, the 
good Father was deprived of every convenience 
that to us appears imperatively necessary, he 
manifested no discontent, for it was suffering 
that he desired in order to be as much like his 
Crucified Love as possible. 

4. TEMPERANCE. 

Temperance, the last of the four cardinal vir- 
tues, according to St. Thomas of Aquino con- 
sists in moderating our passions, actions, and 
inclinations, in harmony with reason. Accord- 
ing to the same authority, it is the last and least 
of the four virtues, for the other three tend to 
a higher degree of moral perfection.^ St. Pros- 
per 2 when treating of this virtue enumerates 
some of its qualities and effects. In the first 
place, he says, that "temperance renders tem- 
perate and tempers the affections." All the de- 



1 Secunda Secundae, quaest. 141, art. 1, et 8. 

2 Lib. iii, de Vit. Cont., cap. 19, p. 92, quoted by 



Falou. 



119 



sires of Fr. Magin aimed at possessing God; 
beyond that he wished for nothing more than 
that all mankind should know and serve the 
Creator so that all might enjoy Him. This re- 
sult he endeavored to bring about by means of 
preaching, teaching, exhorting, and by his own 
example ; but he was not intemperate in his deal- 
ings with those placed in his care. He pre- 
served dignity, equanimity, and considerateness, 
always bearing in mind the circumstances of 
persons, places, things, and surroundings. 

St. Prosper furthermore declares that tem- 
perance makes abstemious, economical, sober, 
and moderate. All these adjectives may truth- 
fully be applied to the servant of God. Fr. Ma- 
gin was a total abstainer. One of those that 
knew his habits well stated that Fr. Magin was 
never known to drink wine. This is the more 
remarkable in that the good Father came from 
Spain where wine is the common beverage. His 
meals, which he took twice a day only, were 
exceedingly frugal. They consisted of corn 
gruel prepared with milk in small quantities. 
When he celebrated holy Mass at San Jose, he 
took the noonday meal at the house of Don x\n- 
tonio Sufiol. He would not join the family, but 
had his milk and crumbs of tortillas placed on 
a side table. Sometimes he would add a few 
dried fruits. Instead of milk he would on Fri- 
days and Ember Days drink nothing but water 



120 



with the corncake. Bread was not baked in 
those days. Tortillas or corncakes supplied the 
place of wheat bread. We have these facts from 
the daughter-in-law of Don Antonio Sunol, at 
whose house Fr. Magin would accept the one 
refreshment which he took outside the mission. 
At the mission he also invariably fasted till noon, 
and then from an ordinary earthen plate eat the 
gruel with a horn spoon. Meat, eggs, and 
fishes never formed a part of his meals. Juan 
Crisostomo Galindo, the grandfather of Mrs. 
Sunol, fasted similarly, and yet reached the age 
of one hundred and one years. 

Fr. Magin was very chary with his words. 
People knew his love for silence, and therefore 
his visitors were few, especially females, who 
rather stood in awe of him. 

Temperance, St. Prosper continues, corrects 
and chastises what is faulty or vicious; in other 
words, it teaches mortification and self-denial. 
St. Paul thought bodily mortification especially 
necessary. 'T chastise my body, and bring it into 
subjection, lest perhaps when I have preached to 
others I myself should become reprobate." ^ 
Christ, our Lord, declares self-denial should dis- 
tinguish His disciples. "If any man will follow 
Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross 

3 1 Cor. ix, 27. 



121 



daily, and follow Me."^ These are the senti- 
ments of all the saints and of all those that seri- 
ously aspire to a place in heaven. From what 
has already been said, it must impress every one, 
as it impressed all that came into contact with 
him, that mortification and self-denial in an he- 
roic degree distinguished the holy missionary of 
Santa Clara. 

According to the Franciscan Rule, Fr. Ma- 
gin wore sandals instead of shoes, but he would 
use no stockings even during the cold and wet 
seasons. This doubtless had much to do with his 
rheumatism and other maladies, as there was no 
l)lace to warm or dry himself. Even if there 
had been a heating apparatus in the mission, he 
would probably not have availed himself of the 
comfort which it afforded, since it was mortifica- 
tion not comfort which he sought. During the 
Lenten season the holy man would deny his poor 
feet even the protection of sandals. He would 
then in the mission buildings and church go bare- 
footed. During Holy Week he would also go 
barefooted outside the house, notably while the 
devotion of the Way of the Cross was per- 
formed on the Alameda, a distance of about half 
a league. 

The discipline or scourge was an instniment 
of penance in use at the College or motherhouse. 

•* Luke ix, 23. 



122 



In the missions, there being enough oppor- 
tunities for mortification, it might be discarded. 
Fr. Magin, however, would apply the discipline 
to himself in his cell or where he could be un- 
observed whenever he deemed it conducive to his 
spiritual welfare. The instrument consisted of 
a number of leather strips twisted into knots to 
which at intervals nails or pieces of wire were 
fastened. 

Moreover, the servant of God wore a cilicium 
about his body and, according to some, also 
about one arm. This instrument of mortifica- 
tion sometimes consists of haircloth; sometimes 
it is a girdle of wire or iron about two inches 
wide. It is formed like a flat chain, but with 
the difference that the points of the wires, where 
they connect, are purposely turned all to the side 
placed next to the body. According as it is 
laced about the body, loose or tight, it irritates 
or torments the flesh. It seems the one Fr. Ma- 
gin used was of this latter make. Such instru- 
ments of penance might inflict serious injury to 
the body if worn a great length of time. For 
this reason its use is granted, never imposed, for 
short periods only. The penitential girdle, like 
the discipline, was a very common means of 
penance among the saints of both sexes. Hence 
Fr. Magin was practising nothing new. 

It may be asked why this torturing of one's 
body? It is not necessary for salvation. That 



123 



depends. It is not easy to decide what a saint 
or a soul in love with God, or one charged with 
the salvation of others, would deem necessary 
for himself in order to secure eternal bliss for 
himself and others. St. Paul thought it neces- 
sary to chastise, that is to say, to scourge his 
body, in order to bring it into, subjection to the 
spirit which is determined to retain the love of 
God. 

People tainted with worldliness may scoff at 
the foolishness of self-torture on the part of 
those that aspire to holiness of life. What then 
is the self-torture of the devotees of fashion 
who squeeze their feet into shoes far too small 
for comfort, and who torment their bodies 
through tight lacing, much more dangerous to 
health than haircloth or the girdle of the peni- 
tent, for no other purpose than to be numbered 
among the worshipers of fashion? W^iat then 
is the practise of others who abstain from cer- 
tain foods, and who deprive themselves of neces- 
sary sleep, for worldly gain or fame? What is 
the difference between the self-torture of the 
saint and that of the worldling? Surely, the 
lofty aim of the former and the base motives of 
the latter leave no doubt which of the two is 
truly wise and which of the two is truly foolish. 

True, Fr. Alagin led an innocent life. So did 
St. Paul and the saints who are known for their 
mortifications ; but penances are not self-inflicted 



124 

for personal faults only. To prevent the pas- 
sions from governing the soul and leading it into 
sins, is quite sufficient reason for self-denial and 
mortification. Furthermore, the holy missionary 
was in charge of souls. Many of these com- 
mitted sin, even grievous sin. As their spiritual 
father, he, like Job, thought it incumbent upon 
himself to offer the sacrifice of his austerities and 
self-abnegation for his spiritual children, inas- 
much as they were unwilling or too forgetful to 
do so for themselves, in order to turn aside the 
wrath of God from the guilty individuals and 
from the whole mission family. Saints and zeal- 
ous men were no less solicitous for the eternal 
than for the temporal welfare, of their flock. 
There we must look for the secret of many of 
their frightful penances. Think of St. Francis 
Xavier scourging himself until the blood flowed 
to the ground for the sake of a wretched indi- 
vidual whose conversion he desired. Remem- 
ber St. Paul and Moses who prayed to have their 
names stricken from the book of life rather than 
that their people should be destroyed. If they 
could offer their life, why not their convenience, 
their meals, their sleep, etc., provided the sac- 
rifice would bring about the salvation of those 
they loved and with whose guidance they were 
charged? Hence it was that Fr. Magin would 
chastise himself unmercifully. Through Juan 
Crisostomo and others v/e know that, like St. 



125 



Francis, the holy missionary of Santa Clara 
would kneel for hours before his Crucified Lord 
weeping, lamenting, and praying for the sinners, 
especially for those among the Indians and col- 
onists of his district. This resulted in a coun- 
tenance which appeared habitually sad, though 
not morose. No one remembered to have seen 
Fr. Magin laugh. Indeed, what Almighty God 
seems to have shown him with regard to the 
future of the mission, and what he himself knew 
of the moral and religious state of many of his 
flock, may well have precluded every inclination 
to gaiety. 

These austerities, however, by no means less- 
ened the holy man's solicitude and activity for 
the neophytes and colonists. They on the con- 
trary added fervor to his energy. Had he neg- 
lected his duties for the sake of performing pen- 
ances to which he was not bound, he would have 
been reprehensible. As it was, his spirit of mor- 
tification rendered him the more zealous both 
for God and immortal souls. After all, Fr. Ma- 
gin was guided by the Spirit of God who leads 
whithersoever He willeth. Nor did all the fast- 
incr, vig-ils, and mortifications shorten his life, 
for he reached the Scriptural age of three score 
and ten. Of these he passed only the first six- 
teen years in the world. As in the case of count- 
less great and good men and women, who prac- 
tised self-denial, the life of the servant of God 



126 



shows that fasting and abstinence from food, and 
from many others things that the worldly- 
minded fancy to be necessary, is conducive to 
longevity rather than not. 



127 

THE RELIGIOUS VOWS. 

"TJie vozvs of the just are acceptable." 

(Prov. XV, 8.) 

The main object of Religious Orders is to 
lead their members to Christian perfection by 
the fervent observance of the Evangelical Coun- 
sels, besides faithfully keeping the Command- 
ments of God and His Church. To this end the 
Religious bind themselves by means of the usual 
vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty. As a 
Friar Minor Fr. Magin had vowed "to observe 
the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ by 
living in obedience, without property, and in 
chastity."^ It is required of the candidate for 
the honors of the altar that his life show heroism 
in keeping these vows as well as in the practise 
of the Christian virtues already enumerated. 

L OBEDIENCE. 

"Obedience is better than sacriUces." 

(I Kings, XV, 22.) 

There are no records extant concerning Fr. 
Magin's conduct in the monasteries of either 
Spain or Mexico. We are, therefore, unable to 
say anything regarding his early life in religion. 
When, however, the superiors sent the servant 



1 Chapter 1, Rule of St. Francis. 



128 



of God to the Pacific Coast, they informed Fr. 
Lasuen, the presidente of the missions, that the 
young priest was a good and peaceful religious. 
They would not have made this remark, had he 
given occasion for displeasure, nor would they 
have allowed him to depart for California. 
Moreover, two of his immediate superiors in 
succession, Fr. Vincente de Sarria and Fr. Ma- 
riano Payeras, later recommended Fr. Magin 
for higher offices. This they could not have 
done, had he not been a model of obedience and 
exactitude with regard to the Rules of the Order 
and of his Institute, the College of San Fer- 
nando. 

Inasmuch as the holy man himself held the 
office of local superior at Santa Clara, he had 
little opportunity to manifest submission to others 
besides the Fr. Presidente. As we have seen, 
three of those that held the office of superior 
of the California missions frankly expressed 
their reverence for him. The fact that for thirty- 
four years he had no other assistant than Fr. 
Jose Viader, who was himself a superior char- 
acter, and that not a shadow of disharmony ever 
came between the two friars, shows that Fr. 
Magin willingly deferred to the opinion of his 
hardly less conscientious companion. 

That the holy man scrupulously adhered to the 
Commandments of God, the Precepts and de- 
cisions of the Church, and to the Rules of his 



129 



Order, and that he insisted that every one under 
his charge should prove similarly faithful, the 
preceding pages have abundantly proved. We 
may therefore pass on to the next vow. 

2. POVERTY. 

"Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, 
rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom zi'hich 
God hath promised to them that love Him?" 

(James ii, 5.) 

Absolute poverty of the community as well as 
of the individual friar is the distinctive charac- 
teristic of the Franciscan Order. Every mem- 
ber imbued with the spirit of St. Francis aims to 
be unhampered by worldly possessions. As a 
most perfect observer of the vows, Fr. Alagin 
at his mission led such a life of abject poverty 
that it called forth the astonishment of all that 
became acquainted with him. His habit was 
made of cloth coarsely woven by the Indians 
from home-spun wool. The color, judging from 
pieces found in the tomb of the holy man on 
opening it in November 1907, was brown. His 
room was furnished in the most primitive style 
in accordance with the highest ideals of re- 
ligious poverty. It contained nothing that could 
be spared, and would have delighted St. Francis 
of Assisi or St. Peter of Alcantara. There was 
no bed. If Fr. Magin lay down at all for rest, 



130 



he slept on the bare floor, or at most upon a 
hide or blanket, without undressing. An adobe 
brick served for a pillow. The cell which still 
exists is situated on the first floor of the Jesuit 
College facing the East and next ' to church 
building. The wall of adobe on the front meas- 
ures four feet in thickness ; the two partitions, 
also of adobe or sunburnt brick, are three feet 
thick. The church wall on the north of the room 
formerly measured five feet through, and it like- 
wise consisted of adobe. There was no window 
in this little room, but there was a door opening 
upon the front corridor, and another leading to 
the next room which may have been occupied by 
Fr. Jose Viader, or according to some may have 
been a reception room. In the corridor stood a 
long wooden bench. Here the holy man fre- 
quently sat when not at his prayers in Church 
or otherwise employed. It was here, too, that he 
received the visitors. There may have been a 
pane of glass or two in the front door of his 
cell, but there is no evidence to that effect. On 
the wall could be seen a cheap crucifix and a 
paper picture of our Lady. A small table and a 
wooden chair completed the whole outfit. The 
writer took the dimensions of this hallowed cell 
and found them to be as follows : Length, east 
to west along the church wall inside, three yards 
and ten inches ; width, three yards and two 
inches ; height, three yards and three inches. 



131 



Like St. Francis, Fr. Magin would have noth- 
ing to do with money. He would never even 
touch it. As a matter of fact all the early Fran- 
ciscan missionaries, in obedience to the letter of 
their Rule, followed a similar course. Though 
placed in absolute control of the mission tempo- 
ralities, which before the Mexican War of In- 
dependence, 1811-1821, had grown to be of con- 
siderable value, the Fathers regarded themselves 
merely as stewards. Not one of the missionaries 
could or did accumulate anything for himself, 
his relatives, his College in Mexico, his Order, or 
for the Church at large. Not as much as a curio 
was sent to the College of San Fernando or any- 
where else. Everything was managed for the 
benefit of the neophyte Indians. Even the sti- 
pends or annual allowance, personal donations 
for holy Masses, or gifts of any kind to the mis- 
sionaries went into the common fund for the 
Indians. All statements to the contrary, as fre- 
quently found in magazines or so-called his- 
tories, are calumnies. 

Fr. Magin carried the rule to extremes in- 
deed, but no farther than St. Francis himself, 
who possessed a holy horror for money. The 
faithful holy steward of Mission Santa Clara 
would not even personally accept money that 
was paid for goods purchased from the store- 
house. He would call the majordomo to take 
the coin. When urged to accept some money 



132 



for himself, he would decline and say, ''It will 
not open the door of heaven." How scrupulous 
the good Father must have been with regard to 
the property of the mission, we can infer from 
his soHcitude for little things. It sometimes 
happened that bits of food and crumbs would be 
thrown away. This he would not tolerate. He 
would distribute provisions without stint to his 
great Indian family, and particularly to the help- 
less and poor, whilst he would deny himself 
every comfort or convenience. Some witnesses 
speak of an old straw hat which they claim be- 
longed to the holy man, and which they would 
use as a relic to obtain relief from their mal- 
adies. Whether he wore such a covering for 
the head, it is impossible to determine. Possibly 
he did wear it when he had to walk about the 
mission or make visits to the sick at great dis- 
tances in the hot summer season ; but there is 
no evidence to that effect. He wore the cowl 
drawn far over his brow, however, as we have 
already stated. His meals were as scanty as 
possible; no beggar fared worse all the year 
round than the saintly manager of the populous 
and prosperous Mission of Santa Clara. Hence 
everything about Fr. Magin bespeaks the high- 
est degree of religious poverty. 



133 

3. CHASTITY. 

"0 hozv beautiful is the chaste generation njith 
glory! for the memory thereof is immortal, be- 
cause it is known both with God and zvith 
men!' (Wisdom iv, 1.") 

This queenly virtue is the beauty of the soul. 
Without it the religious would be unworthy of 
the sacred habit. Chastity is easily stained and 
easily lost. Therefore all lovers of this sublime 
virtue exercise the greatest care lest they en- 
danger the priceless jewel. Fr. Magin may ap- 
pear to have gone to extremes for employing 
such odd means to preserve himself "unspotted 
from the world," However, when the spirit that 
controls the v.orld and its votaries, by means 
of lax notions on morality, is continually en- 
gaged in laying snares for the virtue of the in- 
nocent and unwary, we need not wonder that 
Godfearing souls like Fr. Magin withdraw from 
human society altogether and choose drastic 
methods in order to preserve the beauty of the 
soul. It is then the worldly-minded receive an 
opportunity to learn what God's views are on 
the subject. His views never agree with those 
of the world ; but they can be most quickly as- 
certained from the conduct of the saints ; for 
the lives of the saints is the Gospel put into 
practice. 

Owing to his position Fr. Magin could not 



134 



exclude himself from the world entirely ; but like 
the saints he determined to shut out the world 
from his vision and his thoughts. He fled the 
very shadow of impropriety. His shyness for 
women was proverbial, as we have already 
stated when treating of his virtue of prudence. 
When women or young girls approached to 
speak to him, the holy man conducted himself 
with great reserve. He would indeed listen to 
them, gently in a few words give the counsel 
they needed, and then dismiss them. It was 
customary with the Indians and colonists, male 
and female, to kiss the consecrated hand of the 
priest. Fr. Magin would not permit this, least 
of all on the part of females. In fact, save for 
the purpose of administering the Sacraments to 
the sick, the holy man would not converse with 
females about their spiritual affairs outside the 
confessional. 

When the holy missionary walked about in 
pursuit of his duties he would fasten the eyes to 
the ground. His gait was modest and dignified. 
According to the regulations of the missionaries 
in California, no women or girls were permitted 
to attend the Fathers or to enter the quarters of 
the priests. The part of the building contain- 
ing the rooms of the missionaries was frequently 
called convento, because inaccessible to females. 
Hence the cooking and all housework was per- 
formed by Indian men or youths. It is hardly 



135 



necessary to affirm that Fr. Magin would tolerate 
no infraction of this rule, though in his last ill- 
ness he is said to have accepted food specially 
prepared for him by the mother of Juan Crisos- 
tomo. It was the latter who brought the meals 
from his mother's house, however. 

Nevertheless, the female portion of his flock 
entertained the greatest reverence and love for 
the holy man. No others after his death appHed 
to him with such confidence as the women ; for, 
after all, they had never pleaded in vain for 
anything when they came to him with their 
troubles. Nor were they disappointed, as we 
shall see later. 

Fr. Magin, unless duty so dictated, would not 
pay visits to private houses ; nor would he 
attend banquets or festivities held on occasion 
of marriages or births. He would, moreover, 
never take meals outside the mission buildings, 
save when he had to celebrate holy Mass at San 
Jose on Sundays or holydays. 

*'Wine is a luxurious thing," * Holy Writ 
declares ; hence Fr. Magin abstained from wine 
in order to preclude every danger to the virtue 
which he prized above anything in the world. 
Furthermore he kept his body in subjection by 
severe mortifications, as we have seen in the 
proper place. 



Proverbs xx, 1; Ephes. v, 18. 



136 



HUMILITY. 

"When you shall have done all the things that 
are commanded you, say, 'We are unprofitable 
servants; we have done that which zve ought 
to dor' (Luke xvii, 10.) 

We now conclude with the last virtue de- 
manding special consideration — humility. It is 
really the first in order, the foundation for all 
others, inasmuch as without humility all other 
virtues are impossible. Still it may be dwelt 
upon here with propriety, because, even if it 
were possible for a soul to possess the theo- 
logical, cardinal and other virtues in the highest 
degree, that soul could not retain them unless 
they were supported by humility. Humility, in 
reality, may be called the touchstone of every 
Christian virtue. 

Humility teaches us to recognize our own 
weakness, sinfulness, and wretchedness, and to 
look upon everything good we possess as coming 
from God. Fr. Magin's humility efifectually 
barred insight into his interior life. He shrank 
from publicity, and therefore his closest friends 
or daily attendants were unable to furnish any 
information as to what the holy man thought of 
himself or his work. Fr. Viader, who knew 
him best, might have transmitted a complete de- 
scription of his companion's life ; but he is ab- 
solutely silent, probably in deference to his 



137 



senior's wishes. We are thus compelled to reach 
the facts in a roundabout way, which is most 
laborious and cannot but fail to give satisfaction. 

Agreeably to his love for the hidden life, we 
may attribute to his hum.ility that he wrote next 
to nothing. As the head of a populous Indian 
mission, and as pastor of San Jose City, he had 
abundant occasions to write letters, draw up 
documents, and make the annual and bi-annual 
reports.' Yet, though he held his position for 
thirty-six years, there is not one document or 
letter written by him alone in existence. All 
such correspondence was preserved at Mon- 
terey, and there are thousands of letters from 
other Fathers preserved in the archives of Santa 
Barbara and at the cathedral of San Francisco, 
but only three unsigned copies of letters from 
Fr. Magin. Lest he himself be brought before 
the world, the holy man left all such work to 
Fr, Jose Viader ; and Fr. Mader it is who figures 
everywhere and at all times as the representative 
and manager of Santa Clara. Fr. Magin seems 
to have delighted in being overlooked and in 
staying in the background. 

It was, doubtless, also the sense of unworthi- 
ness, and not only love of recollection, that made 
him keep the eyes to the ground as one not de- 
serving to walk the earth. Of himself he never 
spoke either good or bad. He probably thought 
there was no need to say anything bad, as people 







t^ 



hv 



139 



would realize it without being told ; and as for 
the good, he judged there was none. This was 
true humility,. The thought of his utter insig- 
nificance before the face of God prevented him 
from showing resentment or anger at ill-treat- 
ment. If ever he felt those movements of pas- 
sion at all, he must have possessed wonderful 
self-control, for no one ever saw him angry. 
The same low opinion of himself added to his 
gentleness and considerateness in his dealings 
with the dull and fickle-minded Indians as well 
as with the more wayward colonists. He con- 
ducted himself at all times as the same affable, 
patient, and solicitous father of all. Hence he 
was beloved by all classes, though his person- 
ality inspired awe rather than familiarity. Nor 
would he speak against any one or permit the 
speech that hurts, though in his sermons he 
would not hesitate to denounce vice. Frequently 
he would threaten unprepared deaths for those 
that persistently gave themselves to dangerous 
amusements. Nor was it mere prudence which 
forbade him to allow people, especially women, 
to kiss his hand. More probably a deep sense of 
unworthiness prompted him to reach out the 
cord or the sleeve of his habit for veneration in- 
stead. The cord or the habit in his estimation 
was sacred ; but himself the holy man could not 
deem worthy of reverence. Whatever good he 



140 



possessed, or whatever good he effected, Fr. Ma- 
gin dutifully ascribed to God. 

Thus it was that the saintly missionary during 
life succeeded in hiding his gifts, graces, and 
good works before the world. On that very ac- 
count Almighty God has glorified His faithful 
servant after death, as we shall see in Part III. 
Let us hope and pray that Mother Church may 
set the seal of her approval upon the life of Fr. 
Magin Catala, so that the words of Holy Scrip- 
ture may eventually apply to our California mis- 
sionary, ''Nations shall declare his wisdom ; and 
the Church shall shew forth his praise." * 

LET US PRAY. 

O God, Who didst send Thy servant, Magin 
Catala, to preach the Gospel to the Indians among 
whom he glorified Thee by his life and his deeds ; 
for the greater glory of Thy Holy Na,me honor 
him on earth with the miracles and the splendor 
of the saints ; grant us through his merits all 
manner of blessings, and fill our minds with the 
light of Thy Truth, that walking in the way of 
Thy Commandments we may finally come to 
Thee. Amen. (Approved by His Grace, the 
Archbishop of San Francisco.) 



* Eccli. xxxix, 14. 



PART m. 
MIRACLES AND PROPHECIES. 



143 



"Amen, Amen, I say to you, he that helieveth 
in me, the works that I do, he shall do also, 
and greater than I shall he do." 

(John xiv, 12.) 

Almighty God was pleased to manifest His 
pleasure with the holy life of His servant by 
conferring upon Fr. Magin the power of work- 
ing miracles for the benefit of his fellow men. 
This is not the place to discuss the possibility of 
those extraordinary occurrences which are 
called miracles. Those that feel inclined to cur- 
tail the power of the Omnipotent over His 
creation may have their doubts dispelled and 
their notions easily corrected by turning to the 
treatises on the subject which are accessible to 
every lover of truth. The sanctity of a soul, we 
repeat, is not dependent upon the gift of efifect- 
ing prodigies and wonders ; but if God in His 
goodness deigns to distinguish a faithful ser- 
vant in that manner, it behooves us to adore the 
power of the Creator, who is so wonderful in 
His saints, and to profit by its manifestation. 

The incidents enumerated on the following 
pages have been critically examined and found 
to be historically true, whatever their merit as 
miracles may be. Every statement has been 
corroborated under oath by contemporaries of 



144 

Fr. Magin, or by their immediate descendants 
who lived in various sections of the coast from 
San Rafael to Mission San Antonio. The evi- 
dence, in most cases, was given under oath at 
the homes of the respective individuals, and in 
the presence of priests or other trustworthy per- 
sons. Later, nearly all these witnesses testi- 
fied before the Ecclesiastical Court at Santa 
Clara. As a rule, nothing was included in this 
narrative that rested upon the testimony of one 
person only. Hence, from an historical point of 
view, the depositions, repeated here, as nearly 
as practicable, in the simple language of the wit- 
nesses, are all that could be desired. 



145 
I. MIRACLES DURING HIS LIFETIME. 

VARIOUS MIRACLES. 

"Amen I say to you, if you have faith as a 
grain of mustard-seed, you shall say to this 
mountain: Remove from hence to yonder 
place, and it shall moz'c, and nothing sl:aU he 
impossible to you." (Matt, xvii, 19.) 

"They shall lay their hands upon the sick, and 
they shall recover." (Mark xvi, 18.) 

On one occasion while Fr. Magin was 
journeying with two guards and two Indians 
through a dry country in the hot season, the 
men complained of thirst. The servant of God 
told them to go to a certain spot which he in- 
dicated, and there they should find water to 
drink. The astonished natives declared that 
there was no water in the whole region. The 
Father, nevertheless, directed them to refresh 
themselves with the water which they should 
see flowing from beneath a rock. Still in- 
credulous, but to convince Fr. Magin that no 
water existed in the neighborhood, the men 
went away. On reaching the place they indeed 
discovered the rock and the w^ater cominor out 
of the earth beneath. Soldiers and Indians alike 
were amazed, as no one had ever heard of the 
presence of water in that locality. After they 



146 



had refreshed themselves, the journey was con- 
tinued. When they returned the same way, the 
guards and Indians visited the spot where they 
had satisfied themselves before, but both rock 
and water had disappeared. One of the mysti- 
fied soldiers was the father of Gabriel Cipriano, 
who testified before the Archbishop in 1884. 
His evidence is corroborated by Francisco Ro- 
mano Soto, Maria Josefa Berreyesa, Romana 
Miramontes, Hedwige Miramontes, Felix Buel- 
na, Rudolfo Miramontes, and Clara F. Sunol, 
the granddaughter of Juan Crisostomo Galindo. 

A similar incident was related by Philip a 
Jesus Gonzalez, who had it from an Indian 
named Felix, one of the company favored in 
this way. Felix says : "I and some Indians 
were perishing from thirst in a region where 
there was no water. Suddenly Fr. Magin ap- 
peared and asked us what the matter was. We 
told him that we were dying for want of water 
to drink. ^Go over there,' he said, 'and you will 
find water.' The Indians were surprised, for 
no water had ever been known to exist any- 
where in the neighborhood. We went there, and 
joyfully discovered very much water to drink." 

Secundino Robles related under oath that, 
when he was a boy already well grown up, at 
one time innumerable locusts or grasshoppers, 
called chapulas by the Indians, settled down upon 
the fields and orchards and devoured everything 



147 



green in Santa Clara Valley. The afflicted people 
appealed to Fr. Magin for help. The servant of 
God directed some of the insects to be brought 
to him. When he saw them, he said : ''Let us 
go into the church." There he put on his stole, 
recited some prayers, and then ordered the lo- 
custs to be taken back where they had been 
caught. No sooner had the little creatures been 
set at liberty in the field, when all the locusts 
rose in a body, and flying away plunged into 
the sea. On the next day the beach for three 
or four miles was covered with dead locusts to 
a depth of about three feet. The people again 
sowed their seeds and obtained a good crop. 
This fact was notorious. Very Rev. Joachim 
Adam of Santa Cruz bore witness that he had 
heard the miracle from Romano Rodriguez. 
Secundino Robles' narrative was affirmed by 
Encarnacion Pacheco, who also knew Fr. Magin 
well. Other witnesses were Maria Alviso 
Rodriguez, Filomena Pombera, Merced Castro, 
Maria ^liramontes, Ramona Miramontes, and 
Maria del Pilar Larios, who all had known Fr. 
Magin personally, and were aware of the 
miracle. 

Secundino Robles also relates the following 
incident. "One year, about 1823 or 1824, the 
whole valley was suflFering from a great drought. 
It had not rained during the entire preceding 
winter, nor in the spring that succeeded it. 



148 



About 5,000 sheep perished. In other places 
the people suffered similarly. The inhabitants, 
therefore, asked Fr. Magin for relief. He in- 
vited all the people to join him in prayer for 
rain. It was the month of April. A day was 
set apart for a solemn procession to beg Heaven 
for pity upon the people. After holy Mass, 
during which Fr. Magin preached, the proces- 
sion set out from the church and wended its 
way through the Alameda halfway to San 
Jose, and then turned back. The great Crucifix, 
surrounded by many burning candles, was borne 
in the procession. When the praying multitude 
had reached the last station of the Way of the 
Cross erected along the Alameda, a black cloud 
was seen far away in the mountains to the west. 
It grew larger and wider and approached rap- 
idly. When we were about 300 or 600 feet from 
the church, the rain began to fall in torrents 
and it was accompanied by a* heavy wind. W^e 
boys wondered greatly that the candles which 
we bore were not extinguished by the wind, but 
kept on burning. Much rain fell for seven or 
eight days. The water in the streams rose so 
high that many people could not go back to their 
distant homes for some time. The fields were 
again ploughed in May, grain was sown, and a 
good harvest was obtained. I remember this 
well, for I was about fourteen years old, and 
was one of the boys that carried candles." 



149 



Many desperate cases of women in labor were 
told by a number of witnesses, which all ended 
happily. Fr. Magin, except in one instance, 
would not visit the sufferers, but instead sent a 
straw hat, which he is said to have used occa- 
sionally. He gave directions that the hat should 
be applied, when the result would be happy. In 
two cases, Fr. Magin sent his girdle with the 
same result. Maria Ignacia Pacheco, Felix 
Buelna, Juana Briones, Guadalupe Lorenzana, 
and Maria Rodriguez are the witnesses who made 
depositions on the subject. A great many more 
such cases occurred after Fr. Magin's death, 
which will be related in their place. 

Like his Seraphic Father, St. Francis, Fr. 
Magin seems to have exercised a great power 
over wild beasts. A case is told by Maria 
Josefa Berreyesa and corroborated by another 
person. The girls of the mission, under the 
watchful eye of the servant of God, had gone to 
cut grass for the domestic animals. While at 
work a bear suddenly rushed from a thicket upon 
the frightened children. Their screams at- 
tracted Fr. Magin, who fortunately was near. 
When he saw the beast he walked towards it, 
and gently told it not to harm the girls. As 
though understanding the holy man, the shaggy' 
brute turned and quietly trudged away. 



150 
POWER OVER EVIL SPIRITS. 

"In my name they shall cast out devils." 

(Mark xvi, 17.) 

It seems that the servant of God had full 
power over the spirits of darkness, as the follow- 
ing instances show. On one occasion, in the 
middle of the day which was very hot,, the people 
saw Fr. Magin, in surphce and stole, going along 
the Alameda reciting prayers, just as he was 
wont to do when he exorcised persons and places 
that were thought to be possessed by evil spirits. 
He said that he was exorcising not only a few, 
but a whole legion of devils who had come to 
cause destruction to the people of San Jose. As 
a result, though everything was quiet, clouds of 
dust were seen to rise as though a whole drove 
of cattle were passing along the road; terrible 
noises, howhngs and shrieks were heard, together 
with the sounds of horns and the bellowing of 
wild beasts. Then all was silent. Fr. Magin 
explained that the evil spirits had gone away, 
some taking one road, some another, but that he 
had commanded them not to go to San Jose. 
That the Alameda especially must have annoyed 
the powers of darkness, may be well understood 
from the fact that the fourteen Stations of the 
Cross lined the road ; that it was on the Alameda 
where the public outdoor devotions took place; 
and that it was, by reason of the shade, an easy 



151 



means for the people of San Jose to visit Santa 
Clara Mission Church to hear Fr. Magin preach. 
Even after the pueblo had its own church, the 
townspeople would visit the mission for the sole 
purpose of listening to the holy man's sermons. 
The surviving witnesses of the foregoing occur- 
rence were Maria Hernandez Miramontes, Fran- 
cisca Sepulveda, Pilar Ortega, Maria Larios, 
and Encarnacion Soto. According to Francisco 
Palomares and Concepcion Palomares, evil spir- 
its visited the Alameda at some other times, pre- 
sumably to frighten the settlers from going to 
Santa Clara ; but Fr. Magin scorned their antics 
and assured the people that no harm would come 
to them. 

Pilar Ortega and Maria Pilar Larios, the 
latter born at Mission San Jose in 1798, also re- 
late that once, when Fr. Magin was about to 
preach, he said that the sermon would be short, 
because he was exhausted from fighting with the 
serpent which was striving to devour the people 
of San Jose, that there were many devils going 
about in the streets by threes and fours, but that 
he had exorcised them, and that they had dis- 
appeared. There are other instances related of 
a similar character, but as they are not corrobo- 
rated by trustworthy witnesses, they are omitted 
here. 

The evil spirit appears to have had a prefer- 
ence for his old disguise. Sometimes, probably 



152 



against his will, he had to aid the holy mis- 
sionary. Francisco M. Garcia, an uncle of Ro- 
mana Flores, who with others gave evidence on 
the subject, was exceedingly fond of tobacco, so 
much so that even while the servant of God was 
preaching, he would go out into the adjoining 
cemetery to enjoy a cigarette. Fr. Magin 
warned him not to give such bad example. 
Garcia nevertheless continued his pastime. One 
Sunday he again left the church for the cemetery 
while the holy man was giving his usual instruc- 
tion.' Suddenly the Father stopped preaching 
and said: "Let us recite an Our Father and a 
Hail Mary for an individual who is ^bout to be 
devoured by a monster." The people tremblingly 
joined in the prayer, for they knew from experi- 
ence what such announcements meant. While 
the people were saying those prayers, Garcia 
rushed through the door into the church, ex- 
claiming that a big snake wanted to swallow him. 
"It was not merely a snake," Fr. Magin declared, 
"but the devil himself." From that day forth 
Garcia never left the church to enjoy himself as 
he had done before. Besides Romana Flores, 
Petra Soto, Rafaela Pacheco, Maria Ignacia 
Rodriguez, and Very Rev. Joachim Adam testi- 
fied to the truth of the narrative. Father Adam 
says he had the particulars from Felix Buelna 
and Maria (Majors) Castro. 

A Christian Indian once ran away with the 



153 



wife of another neophyte. Fr. Magin sent the 
mission guards to arrest them. When both had 
been brought back, the holy man, strangely 
enough, had them both locked up in the same 
room. Soon after unearthly screams and yells 
of the imprisoned couple caused the soldier guard 
to hasten and open the room. The terrified pair 
explained that a monster snake had appeared and 
was about to devour them. The frightful vision 
effected a thorough cure from their unholy pas- 
sion. Both v/ere glad to return to their legiti- 
mate partners and led exemplary lives ever after. 
Gabriel Cipriano brought out this incident in the 
life of Fr. Magin. Gabriel Cipriano also in- 
formed the Commission that while Fr. Magin 
was one day preaching, he told the faithful not 
to leave the church immediately after holy 
Mass, as he had a ceremony to perform. He 
emerged from the vestry after Divine Service 
vested in surplice, stole and cope, and went 
through the kneeling multitude to the front door. 
There for some time he recited the exorcisms 
against evil spirits. Then he returned to the rail- 
ing and informed the people that three legions 
of devils had come to harm them, but that they 
were now driven away. Confiding in the power 
of their pastor the multitude thereupon dis- 
persed. 

One night Fr. Magin visited a sick person in 
an Indian rancheria. On the following Sunday, 



154 



while preaching, he related that on this occa- 
sion he had discovered a legion of evil spirits 
there; that he had exorcised them and had com- 
manded them not to go to the neighboring vil- 
lage, whereupon they had disappeared. The 
holy man then exhorted his hearers to fortify 
themselves against the machinations of the devil 
by reciting the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin, and 
thus to prevent the evil spirits from taking pos- 
session of their hearts. 

One more instance of Fr. Magin's power over 
the Evil One may find place here. "When my 
daughter was dying," Petra (Pacheco) Soto 
told Father Benedict Picardo, S. J., ''she seemed 
to behold a terrible monster who threw some 
dirty thing over her face. Fr. Magin, who as- 
sisted the young woman in her last illness, in 
tones of conviction assured the terrified mother. 
"Do not weep for your daughter," he said, "the 
devil was working against her, but he could not 
prevail. She is safe." 

It will surprise those that are not acquainted 
with the spiritual life to find that Fr. Magin 
had to encounter so much opposition from the 
powers of darkness. Our Lord and His 
Apostles met with just such difficulties. Had 
Fr. Magin been an ordinary or indifferent worker 
in the vineyard of the Lord, his labors would 
not have received much attention from the evil 
spirits ; but inasmuch as the holy man was mak- 



155 



ing extraordinary efforts to break their power 
among his flock, and rescued from their cKitches 
many a soul Satan counted as already his own, 
the devils also exerted themselves to counteract 
the influence of the energetic missionary. 

On the other hand, Fr. Magin seems to have 
been rewarded with the certain knowledge of the 
eternal salvation of souls who passed out of this 
world, albeit they were detained from entering 
heaven at once for some neglect. Antonia 
Flores related an instance of this kind before 
the Ecclesiastical Court. *'My mother," she said, 
"told me that, while she lived in a certain house 
of the mission where my father was one of the 
guards, during the night great noises and much 
lamentation were heard. She was very much 
frightened, as she imagined that a malignant 
spirit wanted to torment the family. She there- 
fore asked Fr. Magin to bless the house. The 
holy man told her not to be afraid ; that the 
house was blessed, but that a poor soul wanted 
to speak to her. Too much afraid to receive the 
message, my mother begged the servant of God 
to come to the house and find out what the soul 
wished. He declined ; but on the following day 
he asked my mother whether she had heard any 
more noises during the past night. When she 
replied in the negative, he said : *Do you know 
who it was? It was the soul of Francisco who 
died lately. He had promised to have a holy 



156 



Mass offered up in honor of the Blessed Virgin, 
but neglected to keep his promise.' Fr. Magin 
himself had celebrated the Mass and did other 
things to relieve the poor soul. Thereafter no 
more trouble was experienced at the house." 
This incident in the life of Fr. Magin is corrobo- 
rated by Mrs. Clara Sunol. Other persons were 
also aware of the holy man's action in this case. 

PROPHECIES. 

"To one indeed by the same spirit is given the 
word of zvisdom . . . to another prophecy." 

(1 Cor., xii, 8, 10.) 

The future lies open to Almighty God alone. 
If, therefore, an individual who leads a spotless, 
religious life, possesses certain knowledge of 
future occurrences or of what in a natural way 
cannot be perceived by him, we may conclude 
that he is enlightened by the Spirit of God, and 
that he is a true prophet. Such a man was Fr. 
Magin Catala, whom all the people of Central 
California called El Prof eta, the Prophet. As 
a rule the servant of God would make his pre- 
dictions while preaching from the pulpit or the 
altar rail during holy Mass. The instances 
which have come to the knowledge of the ec- 
clesiastical authorities, through the sworn testi- 
mony of the witnesses are given in the following 
order. 



157 



As early as Palm Sunday, 1820 or 1821, 
Fr. Magin suddenly interrupted his sermon and 
said, "Let us recite an Our Father and a Hail 
Mary for a person that is just now passing out 
of this world at San Jose through violent death." 
Naturally the people were frightened, as many 
of the settlers happened to be present at the 
Indian mission on that day, and they were curi- 
ous to know who might be the victim. No 
sooner had the people left the church after holy 
Mass, than a messenger arrived with the news 
that a woman known as Mariquita, the wife of 
Martinez, had been killed by the cow she was 
milking. Francisca, the daughter of the unfor- 
tunate woman, was present during the announce- 
ment made by Fr. Magin. The accident and the 
prediction caused a great sensation all over the 
country, and was recounted as a proof of the 
holy man's power to know what no one could 
know naturally. The following survivors bore 
testimony to the circumstances : Francisca Se- 
piilveda, Encarnacion Soto, Juan Bojorques, Na- 
zario Galindo (then an altar boy), and Antonia 
Flores (another daughter of Mariquita). The 
following had the information from their imme- 
diate relatives, who had been present in the 
church : Juan Solano Sibriam, Gabriel Cipriano, 
Rafaela Pacheco, Romana Flores (daughter of 
the victim), Petra Soto, Maria (Alviso) Rodri- 
guez, Maria Teresa (de la Guerra) Hartnell, 
and Carlos Castro. 



158 



On one feast of St. Clare the servant of God 
during the sermon ceased speaking, and asked 
the faithful to join him in saying one Our Father 
and a Hail Mary for some one who was then suf- 
fering sudden death. When the mystified wor- 
shipers were on their way home, they met some 
men bearing the body of Salvador Linarez, who 
had been killed by a horse. Petra Soto, a sur- 
viving eye-witness, gave evidence in this case. 

Segundino Robles told a remarkable case at 
the juridical examination. ''I well remember," 
he said, *'that on one Sunday we were gathering 
fruit and taking them to the house of Lucas Al- 
tamirano de Larios, who was walking just ahead 
of me. Scarcely had he reached the door when 
he fell dead. Before calling his wife we put him 
on a bed in the garden, and then informed Ge- 
ronima, his wife. She came and knelt by the 
side of her husband, but when she noticed that 
he was dead, she fainted and soon after also 
died. Not knowing whether both were really 
dead, we sent for Fr. Magin, but as he was cele- 
brating Mass Fr. Viader made himself ready to 
visit the house of sorrow. It appears that Fr. 
Magin had just finished the holy Sacrifice before 
Fr. Viader departed on his errand; for he 
told Fr. Viader that he need not go, as the two 
people had already received assistance. Now, 
during that very Mass Fr. Magin asked the peo- 
ple to recite an Our Father and a Hail Mary for 



159 



a married couple that was very soon to be ex- 
tinguished. 'Por un matrimonio que va muy 
pronto a extinguir,' were the words used by the 
servant of God. As the woman had been with 
child, which a doctor named Castro failed to 
save by an operation, Fr. Magin's prediction be- 
came literally true. It was about twelve o'clock 
when the couple died. I heard from my parents 
that the holy man had made the announcement 
in church, for they had been present. Both, Lu- 
cas and his wife, were buried at the same time. 
Other witnesses to this occurrence were Jose 
Solano Sibriam, Nazario Galindo, Damiana ]\Iar- 
tinez, and Romana Berenda. 

"On another Sunday," Segundino Robles tes- 
tified, "I was present when Fr. Magin said, 'Let 
us pray an Our Father and a Hail IMary for some 
one who is going to die from an accident during 
the coming week.' In the middle of that same 
week my brother Xieves Robles broke his neck 
and died." 

"On one Sunday," Maria Flores relates, "my 
mother was present when Fr. ]\Iagin told the 
people to say an Our Father and a Hail Mary 
because a misfortune would befall some one dur- 
ing the week. Those present recited the prayers 
with fervor, for they knew that whatever the 
holy man announced would surely come to pass. 
Three or four days after a certain Aguila died 
suddenly." 



160 



Rudolfo Miramontes told the examiners in 
1884, "I heard my uncle say that he was present 
at holy Mass when Fr. Magin invited us all to 
offer an Our Father and a Hail Mary with him 
for the welfare of a soul that must leave this 
world through sudden death that very day. 
Scarcely had the awed and wondering multitude 
dispersed, when Serafino Arculeta brought the 
news that a certain MoHna had just been killed 
by a horse. My uncle saw the body of the dead 
man." 

Merced (Ortega) Castro related that when her 
nephew one day m^ade himself ready to catch a 
horse with a lasso, his mother said to him, "Don't 
go out. Fr. Magin announced to-day that a man 
and his horse would be killed." The wilful youth 
nevertheless went out with his brother and 
cousin. In throwing the lasso both horse and 
rider were tangled up, and both fell so unfortu- 
nately as to break their necks on a rock. Maria 
Castro, the sister of the dead man, Carlos Cas- 
tro, the father, Gabriel Cipriano, and Mrs. Ma- 
ria Teresa Hartnell affirmed the testimony of 
Merced. 

Juana (Briones) Miranda gave evidence as 
follows : "1 was many times in the church when 
Fr. Magin during holy Mass would ask for an 
Our Father and a Hail Mary on account of some 
misfortune which was to take place, and it always 
came to pass, a death by falling from a horse, or 



161 



some other accident just as he would predict it. 
I remember that in Holy Week Fr. Magin, there- 
fore, exhorted every one to make a fervent act 
of contrition before going to bed, and another 
act of contrition after rising in the morning and 
to pray more, because no one could know when 
he died. Once I remember he stopped preaching 
and said, 'Let us recite an Our Father and a 
Hail Mary for one who is going to die within 
ten days.' On the tenth day we heard the bell 
tolling for the death of Jose Mezquita, and two 
hours later again for the death of Nicolasa Her- 
rera. The woman had passed away suddenly. 
Both were buried at Santa Clara on the following 
day. Gracia Padilla is another witness to the 
announcement in this case. 

Encarnacion Soto declared that she was pres- 
ent on one St. John's feast, when horse races 
were held as was usual on that day. Before leav- 
ing Santa Clara Fr. Magin warned the young 
men, and said, *'Do not hurry ; be careful, for an 
accident is going to happen." While racing, one 
of the young men, Juan Mesa, fell from his horse 
and was killed near the bridge of San Jose. 

Rufino Saiz, Berta Guadalupe, Guadalupe Pe- 
ralta, and Felix Buelna, frequently heard the 
servant of God asking for the usual prayers for 
the victims of some accident. Whatever he an- 
nounced would invariably take place, so that the 



162 



people began to tremble whenever he asked for 
the one Our Father and Hail Mary. 

Rafaela (Pacheco) Soto testified as follows: 
*'I heard from my mother, who on that Sunday 
went to holy Mass at Santa Clara while I had 
to stay home (I remember it well though I was 
only seven years old), that Fr. Magin had asked 
the usual Our Father and Hail Mary for one 
who should die the next day, Monday. All 
wept, not knowing who it might be that should 
suffer from an accident, but all were certain that 
it would happen. On the Monday, about ten or 
eleven o'clock in the morning, Pedro Pacheco 
fell from his horse at San Jose, and was so badly 
hurt that he died the same evening at six o'clock. 
I was present." This Sunday happened to be 
the feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph, which 
patronal feast of the city was celebrated with 
horse-races and bullfights the day after. The 
people had come from all the country around, 
even as far as Monterey. Juan Bojorques, who 
gave this explanation, also said that Pedro's 
horse was thrown by the bull and fell upon its 
rider. The sad accident put an end to the bull- 
fight for that day. Other witnesses to the proph- 
ecy in the church were Paulina Berreyesa, Segun- 
dino Robles, Jose Solano Sibriam, and Nazario 
Galindo. 

Rafaela (Pacheco) Soto also relates that she 
heard from her aunt, Encarnacion Pacheco, and 



163 



another aunt, that on one San Juan's Day, when 
the people were wont to have races, the servant 
of God during the holy Sacrifice warned the 
faithful to proceed on the journey with great 
care, because an accident would happen, and that 
they should call for him then. After Divine 
Service the women mounted their horses and 
rode away. One of the women on her way to 
San Jose was accompanied by her son. About a 
mile from the mission the young man's horse 
was frightened at something and became unruly. 
In rushing off, the animal bore down on his 
mother's horse which became uncontrollable and 
ran away. The poor woman was thrown off and 
lay like one dead. Fr. Magin was quickly called. 
He gave her the Sacraments and then she ex- 
pired. Her name was Pilar Sanchez, and she 
was the wife of Higuerra. Both aunts were 
present when Fr. Magin announced that the ac- 
cident would take place. Ignacio Bernal heard 
the same version from his mother and his aunt. 
Juana Briones claimed to have been present on 
St. Andrew's Day, which was a Sunday in 1818, 
when Fr. Magin asked an Our Father and a Hail 
Mary for one who was suddenly passing out of 
the world. Two or three days later she accom- 
panied her father and mother to Mission San 
Juan, and while traveling they discovered the 
body of Antonio Soto lying in the road. This 
is the earliest incident of an apparently won- 



164 



derful manifestation on the part of Fr. Magin. 

It may be asked why, if Fr. Magin knew these 
accidents in advance, he did not prevent them 
or notify the persons in question? The reason, 
doubtless, is the same which Our Lord had when 
he warned His Apostles to "be ready, because at 
what hour you know not the Son of Man will 
come." (Matt, xxiv, 44.) "Watch ye, there- 
fore; because ye know not the day nor the 
hour." (Matt, xxv, 13.) If every one were 
ready at all times, that is to say, led a life in 
keeping with the Commandments of God and 
His Church, death would be a welcome friend 
who transfers the soul to a better land. Then 
Fr. Magin could know such things only through 
divine revelation. This special revelation was a 
mark of favor both for the people who were 
thus frequently reminded of the uncertainty of 
life, and the danger of living in sin, and for the 
victim who in this way through the prayers of- 
fered up for him received the extra graces which 
may have insured his eternal destiny. Moreover, 
the holy man may have been left in the dark as to 
the individual and merely instructed as to the 
accident for the reasons given ; or the person, 
too, might have been designated in the revela- 
tion. In the latter case Fr. Magin was also in- 
spired as to the will of God in the matter, which 
was merely to announce the misfortune, but not 
to prevent it. It was enough, by means of 



165 



prayer, to procure the necessary graces for the 
person in question, in order that he or she might 
pass out of the world in a state that was at least 
free from mortal sin. 

One day Fr. Magin informed his people in 
church that his own mother had passed away in 
Spain, and he wished them to assist at the novena 
of holy Masses which he would offer up for the 
repose of her soul. About six months later the 
news arrived from Spain that the holy man's 
mother had indeed died just about the time that 
he announced it in church. Maria del Pilar La- 
rios and Gabriel Cipriano were the surviving 
witnesses of this remarkable occurrence. 

A certain girl, Pilar Ortega testified, was ac- 
cused of a crime and died of grief in consequence. 
Fr. Magin took up her defense, and one day 
publicly declared that the charge was a calumny ; 
that he knew the originator of the slander (who 
happened to be present) : and that moreover he 
knew the innocent girl was saved. 

Juana (Briones) Miranda told the following 
incident: ''My little boy was ill, and I went for 
some olive oil for him to the holy man. He said 
to me, 'There is nothing the matter with thy 
child, but go and visit thy sister, who is very ill. 
Take this tallow along and make a poultice. 
Apply it where she has pain.' I did not know 
that my sister was sick. I therefore asked the 
Father, 'What does Your Reverence say? Is my 



166 



sister very ill?' 'Somewhat,' he replied. More 
he did not say. While I was speaking with the 
holy man, my sister's husband arrived to ask the 
Father to bring the Sacraments to his wife. My 
sister lived about five or six leagues from the 
mission. When I reached home, I found my 
boy well. I then went into the country to see my 
sister. I found her so weak that she could not 
speak. I prepared the poultice after the manner 
Ft. Magin had directed. Scarcely was it applied, 
when she asked for a drink of water. Broth 
was given her, and then I put on another poul- 
tice and soon she was well. I forgot to say that 
when Fr. Magin gave me the simple remedy he 
said, 'This is the way St. Teresa cured the sick.' " 
"When I was a boy," Juan Bojorques con- 
cluded his evidence at the examination, "my 
mother sent me and my little brother for some 
roses. We had to pass the mission building on 
the front. Fr. Magin was sitting in the corridor 
on a bench. When he saw us he called me and 
said, 'Whither art thou going, Juanito?' T am 
going to pick some roses,' I replied. 'Good, 
good,' he said, and kept his seat. When we 
came to the rose-bushes some distance away, my 
little brother could not reach the flowers. He 
tried but only scratched his hands. I grew 
angry and struck him. When we returned the 
same way, the Father was still sitting on the 
bench. As soon as he saw us, he called me. 



167 



'Come here,' he said; 'why didst thou strike thy 
Httle brother?' 'No, Father,' said I, 'I did not 
strike him.' Fr. Magin then said, 'Thy little 
brother coukl not reach the roses ; why didst thou 
not gather them for him ? Thou deservest a pun- 
ishment.' I was amazed, because he could not 
walk, and he did not move. How could he see 
me ?" 

In the last year of his life Fr. Magin would 
preach the most fervent sermons while seated in 
a chair before the sanctuary railing. It appears 
that Almighty God in those days allowed His 
servant a distinct view of the future of Califor- 
nia. There were still many witnesses alive in 
1884 who under oath declared that the holy man 
had preached substantially as follows : People 
from almost all the nations of the earth will come 
to this coast. Another flag will come from the 
East and the people that follow it will speak an 
altogether different language, and they will have 
a different religion. These people will take pos- 
session of the country and the lands. On ac- 
count of their sins the Californians will lose their 
lands and become poor, and many of their chil- 
dren's children will give up their own religion. 
The Indians will be dispersed, and will not know 
what to do, and they will be like sheep running 
wild. Heretics will erect church buildings, but 
these will not be true temples of God. Sons will 
be against their fathers, and fathers against their 



168 



sons, and brother will be against brother. The 
coming of so many people will create great scar- 
city, so that a measure of wheat will be bought 
for its weight in gold. "Una fanega de trigo se 
compraria a peso de oro." As a consequence, 
much distress will come upon the Indians and 
Californians. "I shall not see this," he ex- 
claimed, "but there are those alive that will see 
it. There will be no Franciscans here then, but 
other Fathers will arrive." Those that testified 
to hearing this sermon, which was repeatedly 
preached by the holy man, were Guadalupe Pe- 
ralta, Petra Soto, Nazario Galindo, Maria Cas- 
tro, Encarnacion Soto, Jose Solano Sibriam, 
Paulina Berreyesa, Juan Bojorques, Maria Mira- 
montes, Ramona Miramontes, Hedwige Mira- 
montes, Francisco Palomares, Francisca Sepul- 
veda, John Alexander Forbes, according to his 
son J. Alonzo Forbes, and Chrisostomo Galindo, 
according to his grand-daughter Mrs. Clara Su- 
nol. There are many more who heard it from 
their parents. 

Josefa Abrego, Bernardo Valencia, Francisco 
Palomares, Rita Garcia, Maria del Pilar Larios, 
Arciano Miramontes, Rudolfo Miramontes, Maria 
Castro, Jose Solano Sibriam, Antonia Flores, Fe- 
lix BueTna, Nazario Galindo, and Encarnacion 
Pacheco, claimed to have heard from other per- 
sons that Fr. Magin had predicted the discovery 
of gold to the north of Santa Clara; but this 



169 



statement is disputed. Certain it is that one day 
not very long before his death in 1830, a deputa- 
tion of pagan Indians came to the mission with 
some presents for the holy man. Fr. Magin 
looked through the contents of the basket and 
espied a few gold nuggets. Taking one up he 
asked Mr. John Alexander Forbes, who was 
teaching school at the mission, "No es esto 
oro?" *Ts not this gold?" Mr. Forbes replied, 
''Mucho parece oro, y creo que es oro." "It looks 
very much like gold, and I believe it is gold." 
"Tal vez, tal vez" ; said Fr. Magin, "no lo per- 
mita Dios." "Perhaps, perhaps ; may God not 
permit it." Then he dropped the nugget into 
the little basket, and turned to the Indians with 
these words: "Eso tiene muy mala hechiceria ; 
no debeis tocar esa cosa amarilla, porque os cau- 
saria muchos males." "That has a very bad 
charm ; you must not touch that yellow thing, 
because it will bring much evil upon you." 

It may be that the servant of God took into 
consideration that ultimately this precious metal 
would be discovered, and that he seized the oc- 
casion to speak about it. 

There is more certainty about another prophecy 
concerning the city of San Francisco. Fr. Ma- 
gin predicted that a large city would rise on the 
bay of San Francisco, great houses would be 
erected, and the people would be wealthy ; but 
when the prosperity of the city would be at its 



170 



height, then it would be destroyed by earthquake 
and fire. How well known this prophecy was at 
Santa Clara long before the calamity transpired 
in 1906, may be gathered from the following let- 
ter sent to the editor of the Monitor: 

"San Francisco, December 4th, 1908. 

"Editor The Monitor : Father Picardo's letter 
to The Monitor, touching the history of Fr. Ma- 
gin Catala, recalls to mind an incident I shall 
venture to relate. While I was a student at 
Santa Clara College fifty-one years ago, our 
teacher of rhetoric was the Rev. Father White. 
I well remember one bright afternoon in a reci- 
tation room, fronting the garden, gay with bright 
flowers, seated around the table our class of about 
eight with Father White at the head, his genial 
face beaming on us, while he related the fol- 
lowing: 'Many years ago, a Father connected 
with the early missionary work of this church, 
held the deserved reputation of seer or prophet. 
His was a most holy and remarkable character. 

" 'He predicted events that invariably trans- 
pired, among which was the day, the hour and 
the manner of his death. 

" 'Among his many prophecies was the follow- 
ing: At the place now called Yerba Buena (the 
site of San Francisco) there shall one day arise a 
great and populous city. This city will be built 
by a race of foreigners and they will possess the 
land. This city will flourish and its inhabitants 



/ 



X. 




JUAX CRISOSTOMO GALINDO. FR. MAGlX CATALA'S 
MAYORDOMO. 



171 



will become rich and powerful, and when at the 
height of its prosperity it will perish by earth- 
quake and fire.' 

"It is my recollection that Father White told 
us that the above prophecy was on record in the 
archives of Santa Clara College. Three days be- 
fore the catastrophe of April 18, 1906, I related 
the above prophecy at a dinner. 

"Very respectfully, 

W. S. THORNE, M. D." 

According to Petra Pacheco, Fr. Magin pre- 
dicted that a cholera epidemic would visit San 
Jose, and that the dead would be hauled out by 
the cartloads. This was verified about the year 
1850. She was the only surviving witness of the 
prophecy, but Gabriel Cipriano, who heard it from 
his father, and Felipe Gonzalez, who had it from 
others, affirmed what Petra had testified. 

It may be presumed that the servant of God, 
who knew so well the time of death of other 
people, was aware of his own last hour ; and so 
he was. "The day before Fr. Magin died," Mrs. 
Clara Sunol, the grand-daughter of Crisostomo 
Galindo, told the writer, "the holy man called 
Crisostomo to him, after coming from church, 
and both sat on a bench in the front corridor. 
There he said to Galindo, 'My time has come. I 
am going up above ; in a day or two I shall die. 
Do you want to go with me?' Galindo much 



172 



frightened replied, *No, Father.' Then Fr. Ma- 
gin said, 'Well, you may stay; but remember 
what I tell you now !' The Father then informed 
him what would happen to himself and his fam- 
ily; that he would become poor through the loss 
of his property, and that the sons of his sons 
would become apostates and also give up their 
language. It all came about as it was predicted. 
While the daughters remained faithful, the grand- 
sons fell away. The prediction must have hurt 
the good man exceedingly, and he therefore en- 
deavored with all his might to confirm the faith 
in his grandchildren. Every night he would as- 
semble them, recite the Rosary with them, and 
then tell of the life, wonders, and sayings of the 
servant of God. Galindo lived to the age of one 
hundred years. He could neither read nor write, 
but had a remarkable memory; and it is owing 
to this that many incidents have come down to 
us which throw much light on what the witnesses 
testified, and on many other things of which they 
took no notice, but which are of more moment 
than miracles. 

The night before he passed away, Fr. Magin 
retained only two pious Indian attendants, Ro- 
berto and Egidio, besides an old Spaniard by the 
name of Jaime Monje, and asked them to stay 
with him, as he should die that night. *'Watch 
the sky," he said, "and when you see the morn- 
ing star appear let me know." What happened 



173 



through the night, the stolid Indians have not 
revealed, and probably did not notice. Fr. Ma- 
gin, ever a man of few words, seems to have said 
nothing to men, but to have communed the more 
with his God. Finally the attendants came into 
his room, and said, "Father, the morning star 
has appeared." ''Then please call Father Jose 
to come and pray over me," he replied. These 
were the last words recorded of him. Fr. Viader 
at once hastened to his dying companion and 
said the prescribed prayers. Meanwhile the serv- 
ant of God quietly returned his soul to his Crea- 
tor. It was a beautiful death, just such a one as 
the true child of God, unhampered by family or 
other ties, would wish for himself. 

VISIONS. 

"I zvill come to lisious and revelations of the 
Lord." (II Cor. xii, 1.) 

We have already seen that Fr. Magin mani- 
fested an extraordinary devotion for the Cruci- 
fied Redeemer. He seems to have brought all 
his anxieties to the foot of the great Crucifix. 
It was the common opinion of the white people 
as well as of the Indians that the servant of God 
received unusual favors while lost in sympathetic 
contemplation of our Lord's Sufferings on the 
Cross, and that intimate dialogue with Christ 
took place when the holy man was alone before 



174 



the altar of the Crucifix. At all events, he passed 
hours at a time there in meditation and prayer. 
A great part of the night, too, sometimes the 
whole night he thus passed on his knees. It was 
the firm opinion of the people that his sympathy 
for the Crucified Lord raised the holy man above 
the earth, and that both were in fond embrace of 
each other. Rev. Nicholas Congiato, S. J., who 
was stationed at Santa Clara in 1851-1856, and 
therefore had exceptional opportunities for in- 
vestigation, declared that from what he had 
learned he was convinced of the truth of such 
statements. In the Process of 1884 six witnesses 
testified to the report regarding visions before 
the Crucifix. 

Thus Petra (Pacheco) Soto related that one 
day, so persons of belief had stated, when Fr. 
Viader could not find his venerable companion, 
he was told that the Father as usual was in 
church before the Crucifix. A messenger going 
to the church discovered Fr. Magin raised up 
high in the air on a level with the Cross. The 
Savior had unfastened His hands and was resting 
them on the shoulders of the holy man. The 
servant informed Fr. Viader, who on going to 
the church saw nothing more than that a bright 
light surrounded the kneeling Fr. Magin. This 
testimony was corroborated by Rufino Saiz, 
Berta Guadalupe, Antonia Flores, and Encarna- 
cion Soto. 



175 



Ignacio Alviso stated that once, when he went 
to call Fr, Magin for supper, he saw the holy 
man raised in the air embracing the Crucified 
Lord, and that when later the servant of God 
noticed that he had been observed, he forbade 
Alviso to communicate to any one what he had 
seen. 

The Indian Egidio, who also remained with the 
Father in his last hours, claimed to have seen 
the Crucified Savior place His unfastened hands 
upon Fr. Magin. 

"There was an Indian named Gorgonio, who 
was very pious and a faithful servant of the holy 
man," Felix Buelna relates. "After Fr. Magin's 
death we used to ask him about the deceased mis- 
sionary. He would tell us how the holy man 
would pass much time, day and night, in prayer, 
and that once when he had to call the Father he 
found him in church. He saw him on his knees 
in the air on a level with the base of the Cross. 
He then saw the Savior release His hands from 
the nails and embrace the Father. We young 
people would not believe this, and therefore de- 
nied that he had seen anything. He would then 
reply, T am a Christian, and God hears me. I 
tell the truth. I saw it with mine own eyes.' We 
asked him further, 'How did he get up there?' 
He would say, T do not know ; he had no chair 
nor anything else.' We asked him at different 
times to see whether he would vary or change 



176 



the story; but Gorgonio always repeated the 
same words. Various other persons heard this 
from him on other occasions." 

Rita Garcia told a singular incident in this 
connection. "My mother," she stated before the 
Ecclesiastical Court, ''used to relate that once a 
boy came running to my grandmother exclaim- 
ing, 'Look, grandmother, the Father is kneeling 
in the air, and he does not fall.' The grand- 
mother replied, 'Don't go about telling lies ; take 
care ! How can that be ?' The boy, seeing that 
she did not believe him, made the sign of the 
Cross with the finger and then kissed it, thus 
indicating that he swore he was telling the truth." 

We have already stated Jose Alviso's remark- 
able experience in this connection on page 77. 

BICOLATION. 

Bilocation is a phenomenon which occurs in 
the lives of very few saints, such as St. Anthony 
of Padua, St. Alphonsus, and the Venerable 
Maria de Agreda. It impHes that the person at 
one and the same time is seen to act in two sep- 
arate places. The Indians of Mission Santa 
Clara in time became so convinced that Fr. Ma- 
gin could make himself visible in two places that 
they were very careful not to do anything seri- 
ously subversive of order lest they should incur 
the displeasure of the holy man. Among the 



177 



white people of the surrounding country it was 
common talk that he made his presence felt in 
that manner. 

Romualda Vasqnez in 1884, then ninety-eight 
years of age, testified that the Indians of a cer- 
tain rancheria on one occasion were practising 
witchcraft. All at once Fr. ]\Iagin appeared 
among the wicked men, who astounded at his 
presence scattered in every direction. Yet it was 
shown that he had not left the mission at all. 

Josefa Berreyesa, born in Santa Clara Valley at 
the beginning of the century, relates that on a 
certain occasion her husband, who was one of 
the mission guards, accompanied Fr. Magin on 
a sick-call. Staff in hand the holy man walked 
a great ways, until he felt so exhausted under 
the scorching rays of the sun, that he had to 
take refuge in the shade of a tree. As usual he 
gave himself to silent meditation and prayer. The 
house of the sick person was still far away. The 
soldier waited for some time, but did not dare 
to disturb the devotion of the Father. Suddenly 
the servant of God came to himself and told his 
companion that they need not go any farther, as 
the sick person had been attended to. The mys- 
tified guard accompanied the holy missionary 
back to Santa Clara, and later on learned that 
Fr. ^lagin had indeed administered the Sacra- 
ments to the person, though he had not left the 
soldier's side. The fact caused a great sensa- 



178 



tion among the people and naturally increased 
their veneration for the servant of God. 

A soldier by the name of Juan Gonzales, ac- 
cording to Pilar Ortega, always treated his wife 
most cruelly. Once, while journeying with her 
from Mission Dolores to Santa Clara, he beat her 
so badly that she fell senseless by the roadside. 
The brute continued on his way and left her 
where she lay. On recovering, the poor woman 
called upon Fr. Magin who was at Santa Clara. 
Almost immediately he stood at her side, heard 
her confession, consoled and cured her, and dis- 
appeared. Meanwhile the worthless husband 
reached Santa Clara. Fr. Magin asked hirn 
where he had left his wife. Gonzalez answered 
that she had remained at Mission Dolores. "Thou 
tellest a lie," the holy man said, and then repri- 
manded him severely. After a while some In- 
dians led the woman to the mission. Though 
she was restored, she still bore the scars of the 
wounds on her face and body which she had 
received from her brutal husband. 

Gabriel Cipriano tells this little story of his 
brother-in-law, Jose Hernandez. When Jose was 
a boy his father sent him to buy some fruit from 
Fr. Magin. The good Father was just then sit- 
ting with Fr. Viader on the bench in the front 
corridor. When he heard Jose's petition he said, 
"Get the fruit thyself and take them to thy 
father, but do not take any of the grapes, be- 



179 



cause I need them for altar wine." While the 
boy was picking the fruit, the temptation to steal 
came at sight of the nice bunches of grapes. He 
resolved to cut some and conceal them in the 
basket. Just as he was about to cut a bunch off, 
his eye fell upon the figure of Fr. Magin with a 
book in his hands sitting near by under a tree. 
Bewildered and frightened he let the grapes 
alone, filled his basket with apples and then 
walked back the same way. What was his sur- 
prise, when on returning to the front he saw both 
Fathers sitting together as before. The con- 
clusion was that Fr. Magin must have been in 
both places at the same time. 

Beata Guadalupe Gutierrez heard from Apo- 
lonia (Perez) Pinto the following facts which 
were confirmed by Romu^lda Vasquez and 
others. The husband of Apolonia would ill-treat 
his wife fearfully, though she had the reputation 
of being an excellent woman. Once when he had 
again beaten her, Fr. Magin suddenly appeared 
and consoling her said, "Be of good cheer ; he 
will not beat you that way again." She prob- 
ably told her husband of the holy man's visit, 
for he went to the mission and inquired of the 
servants whether Fr. Magin had left the mission, 
as it was known that, owing to his sore feet, he 
could not walk far. The man learned that the 
Father had not left the mission. Suspecting that 
his wife had perhaps gone to Santa Clara, the 



180 



brute tied her up in her room. Again the holy 
man appeared and offered to loosen the bonds. 
"No, no," she cried, "my husband will kill me." 
**No," he replied, "he will not kill you. Tell him 
I set you free." After the death of the servant 
of God, which occurred not long after, the hus- 
band of Apolonia resumed his brutality towards 
his wife, at a time too when she w^as with child. 
Fr. Magin then appeared to him, and threaten- 
ingly said, "Do not beat your wife; be careful 
or you shall be damned." He ceased the ill-treat- 
ment after that, but fell sick and died. 

Several other cases of apparent bilocation were 
related by others ; but as there seems to be some 
confusion in the names, it is better to omit 
them. One instance seems to be identical with 
the preceding narrative, except that the name in 
the case of the husband is different. Suffice it to 
say that it was the common belief that Fr. Magin 
was not only a prophet and wonderworker, but 
that to the consternation of the wicked and the 
consolation of the just, he could appear in two 
Dlaces at the same time. 



181 



II. MIRACLES AFTER HIS DEATH. 

"Knozv ye also that the Lord hath made his holy 
one zvonderful." (Psalm iv, 4.) 

Fr. Magin's power to aid his clients did not 
cease with his death, for those that invoked him 
experienced the benefit of his intercession many 
years after, and to this day there are those that 
find their confidence rewarded. As Francisca 
Scpulveda expressed herself at the investigation, 
"He gave them everything they asked." For in- 
stance, "When we lost anything," she continued, 
"and the thing was necessary for us. we simply 
prayed 'Soul of Fr. Magin assist me,' and we 
would always recover it. The relics of the serv- 
ant of God would be applied in desperate cases 
of sickness or in perils of life, and always with 
good results." 

It is especially with regard to things lost that 
the faithful among the Californians appealed to 
Fr. ]\[agin. and the instances in which they re- 
covered what was despaired of are so many that 
we can mention only a few. Felix Buelna relates 
that at one time he lost two animals. His wife 
promised to recite a Rosary in honor of Fr. Ma- 
gin, and soon they were recovered. One was 
found in a hole whence it could not extricate it- 
self, the other was discovered tied up in the 
woods where no one had thought of searching 
for it. 



182 



Nazario Galindo told of a case where Luisa 
Sepulveda lost a pair of oxen. Search was made 
everywhere in vain. Luisa then invoked the soul 
of Fr. Magin, and they were speedily recovered. 
At another time her son's horse disappeared. For 
five days they hunted in vain for any trace of the 
animal. Then Luisa called upon Fr. Magin, and 
the lost horse was restored to them. 

Francisco Raymundo Soto affirmed that when- 
ever he lost anything he would appeal to Fr. Ma- 
gin, promise a Rosary, or a holy Mass in his 
honor, and always recover the article. Apolina- 
rio Lorenzana and Josefa Flores, the latter 
eighty years old, said they had the same expe- 
rience. 

Maria Bernal Benitez reported that "one night 
some Indians drove away our horses. 'God help 
me,' my mother exclaimed weeping, for the 
horses were our whole property. My mother 
prayed to Fr. Magin, and put aside two dollars 
to have holy Masses offered up in honor of the 
soul of Fr. Magin. On the morning of the third 
day the horses all came back by themselves to 
the corral, whence the Indians had driven them. 
We all thought it was miraculous. Rosa Hoff- 
man and Petra Pacheco confirmed this story. 

"About two months ago," said Rosa Hoffman 
in 1884, "Mariquita Oliviera was so. ill that I 
thought she would not live through the night. 
She was suffering from gangrene of the leg. I 



183 



advised her to have recourse to Fr. Magin who 
would surely help her. In order to afford her 
some relief, I applied a simple remedy which did 
not operate speedily. Mariquita, however, ap- 
pealed to Fr. Magin and he helped her, for she 
is now in good health." When questioned by 
one of the examiners whether she was sure that 
Mariquita had made a promise to Fr. Magin, 
Rosa replied, "Yes, because I told her to invoke 
him, and I heard the promise. She promised 
to recite some Rosaries. I do not know how 
many." Again questioned whether there was any 
other circumstance connected with Mariquita's 
illness which made Rosa think that she would 
not live till morning," Rosa answered, ''Yes, she 
suffered from a flow of blood. I did not believe 
that she could live through the night, and there- 
fore asked a little girl to stay with me. We both 
wept, because we believed the woman would die." 
To the question whether a doctor had been called, 
Rosa replied, ''Mariquita did not want a doctor. 
She was herself experienced in medicine. She 
used to attend and cure other sick people." 

Vincencio Suarez made this statement: "At 
one time a great fire broke out in a field about a 
league from San Jose and consumed all the 
standing grain. The people were terrified. All 
ran together, but could do nothing to stop the 
spread of the fire. In this distress my mother- 
in-law, Luisa Botiller, brought out the crucifix 



184 



which Fr. Magin used to wear on his breast, and 
which they had taken away before burial. She 
planted the crucifix in the course of the raging 
element, and exclaimed, "Fr. Magin, assist us !" 
Immediately the fire ceased to approach and died 
out. Questioned by the Promoter of Faith as to 
the direction which the wind was taking, Vin- 
cencio said, ''The wind was blowing towards the 
south where there was a grainfield." Again 
questioned, ''Was there any stream between the 
crucifix and the fire?" Vincencio replied, "No, 
there was only a narrow footpath, about two 
palms wide. In this path Luisa had planted the 
crucifix. Everything was dry on both sides. I 
heard this not only from my mother-in-law, but 
also from Augustin Narvaez, Francisco Pacheco, 
Andres Martinez, and many others who went out 
to see the fire. All found the facts as I have re- 
lated them." Nazario Galindo and others cor- 
roborated the story of Suarez. 

"Three years ago," (i. e. 1881) said Juana 
Lightstone, "a woman who owed my mother a 
sum of money, died. Her sons refused to pay 
the debt. My mother had great confidence in Fr. 
Magin. She promised him to have a novena of 
holy Masses offered up if the matter were settled 
out of court to her satisfaction. About a month 
later the heirs of the deceased woman offered to 
come to terms with my mother. They were will- 
ing to accept $500 and cede the ownership of the 



185 



land in question to my mother. This is just what 
she had proposed, and what they had refused for 
three years." Rafaela Soto confirmed the state- 
ment of Juana. 

''My husband," Maria Bernal related, "bought 
a piece of land from a young man. The brother 
of the young man was dissatisfied with the price 
received, and started a lawsuit against my hus- 
band. I promised Fr. Magin to have a holy 
Mass offered up if the case were decided in our 
favor. About two months ago it was so decided." 

Maria (Majors) Castro told the Commission 
the following incident : 'T was once bathing in the 
sea at Santa Cruz. I was then as now rather 
fleshy, and could not help myself very well, and 
hardly know how to swim. Suddenly a wave 
carried me out into the deep. I felt myself sink- 
ing. In terror I cried out, 'Soul of Fr. Magin 
help me !' and found myself on the shore without 
knowing how it happened." 

There are numerous stories on record of des- 
perate cases of women in labor where there was 
little or no hope of survival. For obvious rea- 
sons they cannot be told here in detail, though 
the particulars appear in the sworn evidence. In 
many instances a relic of Fr. ]\Iagin was applied, 
such as a piece of his habit, the crucifix which 
he wore on his breast, a sandal, or any other ar- 
ticle that had belonged to the servant of God. 
Where such things were not available the per- 



186 



sons concerned would promise to recite one 
Rosary or more in honor of Fr. Magin, or to 
visit Santa Clara church on foot and receive the 
Sacraments, or to have a holy Mass offered up. 
It will suffice to quote the names of the principal 
witnesses who testified for themselves or as eye- 
witness for others. They are Petra (Pacheco) 
Soto, Francisca Sepiilveda, Encarnacion (Pa- 
checo) Soto, Felix Buelna, Juana (Soto) Light- 
stone, Antonia Flores, Maria (Duarte) Valencia, 
Josefa Sepulveda, Ignacio Bernal, Maria Bernal. 
All these attributed happy delivery and survival 
to the miraculous intervention of Fr. Magin. 

"I have been midwife for forty years," Encar- 
nacion (Pacheco) Soto testified at the age of 
eighty-five, "and I have had many apparently 
hopeless cases. When the outcome looked des- 
perate, I would apply a relic of Fr. Magin. I 
have never lost a mother or child." 

Maria del Pilar Larios of San Juan Bautista, 
who had exercised the same profession during 
forty years, related to Father Benedict Picardo in 
the presence of Fr. Valentine Closa, and later be- 
fore the Court, that in all serious cases she would 
invoke the soul of Fr. Magin, and never lost a 
case. 

Anna Maria Sepulveda said on the same occa- 
sion that she had carried on the profession of 
midwife for thirty years. In the many perilous 
cases that occurred she would appeal to Fr. Ma- 



187 



gin, apply a relic of his, and never was a mother 
or infant lost. 

Clara Sunol, now of East Oakland, herself the 
mother of eighteen children, for many years lent 
her assistance in such circumstances. When 
there seemed to be no hope, she would invoke 
Fr. Magin, and in no instance was the result un- 
happy. 

"When I was twenty-five years old," Rafaela 
Pacheco told the examiners, *'a great tumor de- 
veloped on one of my breasts. I feared greatly 
that I should have to undergo a painful opera- 
tion. I recommended myself to Fr. Magin and 
promised a cord of all colors and two pieces of 
silk for the great Crucifix at Santa Clara. Soon 
the tumor opened from self and the pus flowed. 
On the third day I was cured, and in gratitude 
hastened to comply with my promise. 

"When at the age of thirty years I found my- 
self a widow," Rafaela continued. "I suffered 
such terrible headaches that I could not bear the 
light. I had borne this for more than a month, 
when I remembered that my mother possessed 
a piece of Fr. Magin's habit. I applied it to ni}^ 
head, promising at the same time that if I was 
relieved I would walk to holy Mass at Santa 
Clara the following Sunday and receive the Sac- 
raments. No sooner had I put the little piece of 
cloth to my head than all pain was taken away. 



188 



On the next Sunday I went to fulfill my promise 
in good health." 

Petra (Pecheco) Soto gave this evidence: 
*'Once I suffered a great pain in the head. It 
was so intense that I had to take to bed for a 
week. Then I thought of applying a piece of 
Fr. Magin's habit. The pain left me at once, and 
I have never since been troubled with a similar 
headache. I kept the relic for three years and 
kissed it frequently. By its application my daugh- 
ter was relieved of an intense pain in the side. 
She allowed another person to have the relic in 
some trouble, but it was never returned. I 
grieved much for its loss." 

Juan Bojorques declared, "We all believe that 
Fr. Magin was a very holy man. We invoke 
him whenever anything is lost, or when we suf- 
fer in the body. I always pray to him and am 
always relieved. In such cases I light a candle 
and recite the promised devotions." 

Juana Lightstone testified, "My mother pre- 
serves a piece of Fr. Magin's habit. She prizes 
it highl}^ and whenever I have a bad headache, 
I apply the relic and the pain passes away." 

At the examination Nicolas Berreyesa stated 
that in 1852 he was afflicted with such a violent 
headache that he could not travel. He placed a 
piece of Fr. Magin's habit against the head, and 
the affliction ceased. He was never again tor- 
tured in like manner. 



189 



Rafaela Soto made this statement: "Once I 
was very ill, and lay in bed for two months. I 
thought I should never rise again. Then I prom- 
ised Fr. Afagin that I would make the Stations 
of the Cross a whole day, if I recovered. I 
prayed him to add this favor to the many others 
bestowed upon me. Scarcely had I made the 
promise and uttered the petition when I felt my- 
self well, just as I am now. 

"It is now (1884) less than two years ago 
when I received another favor through Fr. Ma- 
gin. One of my animals in falling was hurt so 
badly that it seemed doomed to death. I offered 
a Rosary in honor of Fr. ]\Iagin. The next day 
the animal rose and was well." 

Anna Sepulveda said she cured consumptives 
whom the doctors had abandoned simply by 
applying a sandal of Fr. Magin after praying 
to him. She frequently used this relic in the 
cure of the sick. 

Josefa (Sepulveda) Flores, then eighty years 
old, related that at one time a man had wan- 
tonly shot an ox with a pistol. The poor ani- 
mal lay on the same spot for five days without 
taking anything. I promised Fr. Alagin a 
novena of Rosaries if the poor creature recov- 
ered. When I had finished the first Rosary, the 
ox rose and walked away a great distance. 
After fifteen davs he was found in sound 
health. 



190 



*'My husband," said Maria Bernal, /'had a 
mare which fell very sick. He valued the 
horse highly. When he thought that it would 
die, he promised a Holy Mass in honor of Fr. 
Magin. The mare recovered." 

We omit many other seemingly wonderful 
stories, which, at least, demonstrate the confi- 
dence of the people in the intercession of the 
servant of God, and close the narrative with the 
recital of an extraordinary favor attributed to the 
intervention of Fr. Magin. 

*'My father and mother," said Rita Garcia be- 
fore the Commission, "daily recited an Our 
Father in honor of Fr. Magin. I remember 
well what I am going to tell, because I was 
present at what happened. My father was a 
soldier, and as such, when his turn came, had 
to carry the mail between Mission Soledad and 
Monterey. One day as he v/as ready to set out 
on horseback from our home with the package 
of letters, he thought of taking some money 
along. He asked my mother to bring it out to 
him. She replied, 'Come and take as much as 
you want.' He dismounted. As the horse was 
gentle, he left the reins upon the pommel of the 
saddle without tying the animal. The package 
of letters was wrapped in a piece of cloth about 
one foot long. Instead of keeping it in his 
hands, as it was but a few moments to go into 
the house and return, he left the little bundle 



191 



upon the saddle without securing it in any way. 
Then he went into the house for the money. 

"When he came out, to his consternation the 
horse had disappeared and the letters with it. 
We went out with a lantern, for it was still dark, 
and looked everywhere, but the horse could not 
be found. My father asked a friend, Simon 
Cota, to look for the horse everywhere, without 
telling him about the letters. Then he went away 
to hide himself, for if the package with the mail 
were lost he would surely be shot. 

"The friend returned at noon the same day, 
and said that he had not discovered any trace 
of the horse. Meanwhile my mother and we 
children were weeping, for the death of my 
father was certain if the mail was lost and he 
were caught. My mother at last promised to 
have a holy Mass celebrated, and to receive the 
Sacraments if the horse and letters were recov- 
ered. This promise my mother made to the soul 
of Fr. Magin. 

"During all this time my father in despair 
wandered off into the sierra of Soledad, where 
bears roved about at that period ; for he said to 
himself it is better to die there than to be 
executed in disgrace and in the presence of my 
family. At last, tired out, he sat down about 
three or four miles from the top of the mountain 
range near a high rock. It was late in the night 
and very dark. All at once he heard a slight 



192 



noise coming from the other side of the rocky 
steep. It sounded as though a horse were 
chewing his bit. Not knowing what it was, he 
cautiously moved around to the other side. To 
his great joy he discovered the horse there, just 
as he had left it at the door of his own house. 
The reins were on the pommel and the package, 
most wonderful of all, lay on the saddle where 
he had placed it. 'Blessed be God!' my father 
exclaimed. 'He has at last listened to a poor 
wretch ! Who would think of finding the horse 
in this place and with the package loose upon his 
back.' Declaring it was a miracle, he hastened 
homeward. When he arrived, my mother ex- 
plained that this was a miracle due to Fr. 
Magin, because she had called upon him in their 
distress and had made the promise of a holy 
Communion and holy Mass. My father has- 
tened to forward the mail, and my mother ful- 
filled her promise." 

When questioned by the examiners as to the 
length of time that her father had been absent, 
Rita replied, "He left early in the morning 
when it was still dark. We bid him farewell 
and said, 'Fly, and God help thee.' My father 
fled and went afoot through the woods of the 
sierra until midnight, when he, tired from wan- 
dering through the brush and over the rocks, 
sat down and then heard the horse chewing the 
bit. He came down from the mountain with 



193 



the horse with much difficulty. That day he con- 
cealed himself until night, lest any one found 
him as mail carrier off the road. When it was 
dark, he returned home and arrived at four 
o'clock in the morning." 

To the question, "Did the horse have any cov- 
ering or anything else which might have held 
the package fast?" she repHed, "No, sir, noth- 
ing but the saddle. He who carries, the mail 
bears it tied around his body like a bandage. 
My father put it upon the saddle and intended 
to tie it around himself as soon as he was 
mounted on the animal." 

U. L O. G. D. 



195 

APPENDIX. 



A. 

ST. MAGIN, MARTYR. 

(To Page 13.) 

This saint is not known to the English-speaking 
people, though in his own country he is very much 
venerated. A short sketch may therefore be wel- 
come. There is nothing on record concerning his 
antecedents. We only know this much that, while 
Maximian ruled the western part of the Roman 
empire towards the close of the third century, three 
hermits appeared in the mountains of Brufagana, 
Catalonia, Fr. Catala's native country. One of these 
servants of Christ was the Blessed Magin, who took 
up his abode in a cave near Rocamora. There he 
employed his time in works of penance, in prayer, 
and in contemplating the Divine Perfections. 

Zeal for the salvation of souls for whom the 
Savior shed His Blood urged the holy hermit to 
give up his beloved solitude in order to preach the 
Gospel to the surrounding Gentiles. With the help 
of God he succeeded in convincing the pagans of 
the folly of idol worship and of the reasonableness, 
truth, and beauty of the Christian Faith. 

When the pagan governor of Tarragona heard of 
^.Tagin's activity in behalf of Christ, he had the 
servant of God arrested for treason, because the 
preaching of the Christian doctrine was contrary to 
the laws of the Roman emperors. No sooner had 
Magin been brought before the pagan tribunal than 
the governor addressed him in terms of severity. 
"Art thou the sacrilegious man," said he, "who 
preaches Jesus, the Nazarene. and despises the rul- 



196 



ers of the world? Thou shalt cease perverting the 
people, and thou wilt offer sacrifice to the gods, or 
thou shalt suffer the keenest torments." 

Threats, such as these, could not frighten the holy 
man. On the contrary, he at once showed that the 
religion which he taught the people is true, and that 
it was wicked and against reason to worship imag- 
inary deities who were but demons in disguise. The 
fearless speech enraged the judge. He commanded 
Magin to be loaded with chains and cast into a 
dungeon in order to break his resistance by means 
of hunger. 

Whilst the heroic confessor of Christ suffered in 
prison, it pleased Almighty God to make known 
the virtues of His faithful servant. He allowed a 
demon to take possession of the governor's daugh- 
ter. The evil spirit tormented the girl frightfully. 
Her father appealed for help to the priests of the 
idols, and directed them to offer sacrifices to the 
gods in order that his child might be delivered from 
her tormentor. The demon, however, compelled by 
Almighty God, declared that he would not depart 
unless driven out by Magin, the Christian. Paternal 
love overcame hatred for the prisoner. The gov- 
ernor had the servant of God relieved of his chains, 
and then begged him to have pity on the girl. For- 
getting the injuries he had suffered, Aiagin com- 
manded the evil spirit to give glory to his Creator, 
and in the Name of Jesus Christ to go out from the 
child, in order that the people might recognize the 
supreme power of Christ. The demon departed im- 
mediately. 

We should suppose that at sight of such a prodigy 
the father would not only have ceased to molest the 
deliverer of his daughter, but that he v/ould have 
thanked and rewarded him. Such was not the case. 



197 



The obstinate heathen, probably fearing the loss of 
his office, in spite of the entreaties of his more 
grateful child, again committed Magin to the dun- 
geon with orders to chain him and to starve him 
into submission. The Lord, however, repeated the 
miracle wrought in behalf of Peter, the prince of 
the apostles. The chains dropped from the hands 
and feet of the martyr, and the doors were opened 
by an unseen hand, leaving Magin to return to his 
beloved mountain cave. 

When the tyrant was told that the prisoner had 
escaped, he despatched some soldiers to search for 
the fugitive, and to kill him wherever they might 
discover him. The satellites found the holy man at 
prayer. Seizing him they beat him cruelly, dragged 
him over rocks and thorns, and then beheaded him 
on the 26th of August, about the beginning of the 
fourth century. Christians reverently buried the 
body of the martyr on the spot where he had ob- 
tained the crown of martyrdom. As soon as the per- 
secutions against the Christians had ceased, an ora- 
tory or chapel was erected over the grave which is 
now enclosed in the parish church of Rocamora in 
the Archdiocese of Tarragona. Innumerable mira- 
cles have occurred at the tomb of the glorious St. 
Magin. 



198 



B. 

MORNING HYMN, 

As sung by Fr. Magiii Catala and his Indians. 
(To Pages 86 and 87.) 

1. The dawn appears and ushers in the day, 
Ave Maria, — fondly let us pray! 

2. For sinners' consolation wert thou born, — 
First ray of hope and brilliant star of morn. 

3. Thy birth, O Queen, is Heaven's richest boon, 
It fills the earth with joy, dispels sin's gloom. 

4. The cunning serpent writhes and coils in pains. 
Lest it do harm, thou fetterest it Vv^ith chains, 

5. At sound of thy sweet name, O Virgin chaste. 
Doth tremble hell and demons fly in haste. 

6. With voices glad and joyful let us sing, 
A hymn to Mary, Mother of our King! 



199 



C. 
EVENING HYMN, 
\ As sung by Fr. ]\Iagin Catala and the Indians. 

(To Pages 90 and 91.) 

1. Hail Alary, blessed of God and full of grace, 
The Lord is with thee, Purest of our race! 

2. Blest art thou. Dove of purest, spotless white, 
Sole woman, never touched by sin's chill blight! 

3. With one voice earth and heaven thee acclaim 
As Queen, — God's Mother, — Virgin free from 

stain! 

4. So shall it be! — Forever sound our strain! 
With one voice earth and heaven thee acclaim. 

(Then follov^^ed and was repeated three times:) 
Holy God! 

Holy and strong God! 
Holy and immortal God! 
Deliver us, O Lord! 
From all evil. 

(For the music see next page.) 



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Table of Contents 



PART I. 
LIFE. 



CHAPTER I. 

Page 
California. — Discovery of Gold. — The Missions 
and Missionaries. — Fr. Magin Catala's Birth, 
Baptism, Parents. — Enters the Franciscan 
Order 11 

CHAPTER II. 

Dearth of Missionaries. — Fr. Magin Goes to 
America. — Vandalism of the Liberal Poli- 
ticians. — Chaplain on the Xootka Ship. — Ar- 
rives at Monterey. — Reaches Santa Clara.... 15 

CHAPTER III. 

State of the Missions. — Fr. Magin's Love for 
His Rules. — His Mortification. — His Illness. — 
Asks to be Retired. — His Zeal. — Local Diffi- 
culties. — Dullness of the Indians. — Statistics.. 23 

CHAPTER IV. 

Fr. Magin's Inner Life. — Shadows of Mission 
Destruction. — The Mexican Government De- 
mands Oath of Allegiance. — Fr. Magin's Re- 
ply. — His Last Years. — His Precious Death. — 
Grief of the People. — Burial. — Fr. Jose 
Viader's Entry in the Records of Santa 
Clara 29 

CHAPTER V. 

Fr. Magin's Fame for Sanctity. — Practices of 
the People. — Fr. Magin's Relics. — Opinion of 
His Superiors. Fathers Lasuen. Sarria, and 
Payeras. — Fr. Jose Viader's Respect ?)6 



11. 

Page. 
CHAPTER VI. 

Opening of Fr. Magin's Tomb. — Identification. 
— Archbishop Alemany Interested. — Petition 
of the Jesuit Fathers. — Decision of the Arch- 
bishop's Council. — Notary and Vice-Postula- 
tor Appointed. — Archbishop Alemany the 
Moving Spirit 40 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Members of the Ecclesiastical Court. — The 
Witnesses. — Demand for Corroborative Evi- 
dence. — A Life of Fr. Magin. — Removal of Fr. 
Magin's Remains. — The New Process de Non- 
Cultu. — The Proceedings. — Ridiculous Non- 
Catholic Notions About the Canonization of 
Saints 48 



PART II. 
VIRTUES. 

Introduction 59 

Theological Virtues 61 

Faith 61 

Hope 75 

Charity 79 

1. Love of God 79 

2. Love of Neighbor 94 

Cardinal Virtues 104 

1. Prudence 104 

2. Justice 109 

3. Fortitude Ill 

4. Temperance 118 

Religious Vows 127 

1. Obedience 127 

2. Poverty 129 

3. Chastity 133 

Humility • • ■ ■ . . 136 



111. 
PART III. 

MIRACLES AND PROPHECIES. 

Page. 

Introduction 143 

I. Miracles During His Lifetime: 

1. Various Miracles 145 

2. Power Over the Evil Spirits 150 

3. Prophecies 156 

4. Visions 173 

5. Bilocation 176 

II. Miracles After His Death 181 



APPENDIX. 

Life of St. Magin 195 

Ya Viene El Alba— English Translation 198 

Dios Te Salve Maria — English Translation 199 

Santo Dios — Music and English Translation. . 199-200 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

St. Mary Major, the Parish Church at Mont- 
blanch, Where Fr. Magin Catala Was Bap- 
tized Frontis-picce 

Guiding Angel 10 

Fachada of St. Mar}^ Major at Montblanch 13 

Inscription on Tomb of Fr. Magin Catala at 

Santa Clara 51 

Franciscan Coat-of-Arms 58 

The Famous Crucifix of Santa Clara 84 

Ya Viene el Alba — Music 87 

Dios Te Salve Maria — Music 91 

Santa Clara Mission at Fr. ]\Iagin Catala's 

Time 108 

Autograph of Fr. Magin Catala 138 

Jesuit Coat-of-Arms 142 

Juan Crisostomo Galindo, Fr. Magin Catala's 

Ma3'ordomo 171 

Coat-of-Arms of the Franciscan Province of the 

Sacred Heart 194 

Santo Dios — Music 200 



^ BOOK FOR THE LIBRARIES 



The 



issions ana missionaries 



By FR. ZEPHYRIN ENGELHARDT, O. F. M. 

With numerous footnotes, illustrations, fac-similes, 
and three maps, 654 pages. Price, cloth binding, 
$2.50 net. Sent to any address on receipt of $2.75. 
Apply to the author. Boys' Orphanage, Watson- 
ville, Cal. 

Contents: Lower California, Part I — Early Voy- 
ages. Part II — Jesuit Period. Part III — -Franciscan 
Period. Part IV — Dominican Period. Appendix 
A — K. Copious Index. 

"I would like to see this work in every library and 
in every home." — Rt. Rev. Thomas J. Conaty, D. D., 
Bishop of Los Angeles. 

"Wherever libraries know what scholarship means, 
this work will be indispensable.'' — Charles F. Lum- 
mis, Editor of "Out West." 

"The book is one of the most fascinating works 
on the subject that it has been my privilege to read." 
— Miss Alice J. Stevens, Los Angeles, Cal. 



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